pork and red wine pasta sauce

This was one of the best things I've cooked in awhile. I've made this before, but it didn't turn out as well. My buddy Jay made it for a dinner party and then sent me the recipe. I believe he got it out of a Bittman cookbook, but I can't be sure.

Last Friday I was in Dominick's pacing the meat case once again trying to figure out what to cook. No beef short ribs, which was my original plan, so I was seeing what they had when I saw these small packages of pork spareribs. They packages were about a pound each and only a couple of bucks. I thought of this pasta sauce recipe and went to work. Here's what you need.

3 slices of thick cut bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 pounds pork spareribs
Flour for dredging
2 large shallots
1 stalk of celery diced
1 carrot diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 large can of tomato puree
1 bottle of Cabernet
1 TBLSP oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut up the bacon and cook over medium-high heat in large cast iron dutch oven. Cook until bacon is crispy and fat is rendered and remove to plate.

While the bacon is cooking place some flour in a plate and begin to dredge the cut up pork ribs. season with salt and pepper. In batches brown the rubs in the bacon fat and set aside.

After all the ribs are browned deglaze the pan with about 1/2 a cup of the red wine and let it cook off. Add the diced shallots, celery and carrots to the pan and cook for three to five minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Place the ribs and bacon back in the pan and add tomato puree and wine.

Cook for about an hour and then taste, season accordingly. Allow to cook for another two to thrwe hours until the rib meat is falling off the bone. Remove bones from the sauce and serve with pasta. I used a fettucini.

The sauce was rich and had a great depth to it. The meat was tender almost melting in your mouth. I was very happy with how this turned out.