In Italy pork is extremely popular. There are some butcher shops that specialize in only pork products. Nothing is wasted, not even the intestines, brains, or blood. But ribs are rarely separated from the loin meat and they are rarely served in slabs as is popular in the US. Ribs are more likely to be found in the form of rib roasts and rib chops. At right is the world's most famous butcher, Dario Cecchini in his centuries old shop in tiny Panzano-in-Chianti with a rib section he will use to make his succulent herbed roast, porchetta.
Tuscan farmers love their herbs as much as their pork so the two are often combined. Here's a technique you might find used in a Trattoria or farmhouse in Tuscany. The ribs can be roasted indoors or out. We start with a great herbal oil and vinegar salad dressing and then modify it to make a marinade and end up with something much different than normal American ribs, but really quite subtle and complex. To learn more about how marinades work, you should read this article first.
Do this
1) Pour the marinade into a large zippered bag, zip and shake.
2) Cut the slab in half and add the halves to the bag, coat all sides, and toss them in the fridge for at least 1 hour, 6 is better. Every 30 minutes shake up the bag.
3) Roast the ribs low and slow with indirect heat at 225F. No smoke. That's right, leave out the wood. We're going smokeless here. We want the pork and herb flavors to dominate.
4) Every 30 minutes mop the meaty side of ribs with the marinade until it runs out. Do not mop during the last 30 minutes to prevent contamination with microbes in the marinade. Click here to learn how to tell if they're ready.
AmazingRibs.com is all about the Zen of Barbecue, cooking ribs, and all kinds of BBQ recipes and techniques: Barbecue baby back ribs, spare ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, smoked turkey, steak, lamb, barbecue sauces, rubs, and great side dishes, with the net's best buying guide to barbecue smokers and cookers. It is written, illustrated, and coded solely by Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn.
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