Costillas a la Riojana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy casserole with a tight lid, 28 to 30cm
• •Kitchen tongs
• •Box grater for fresh tomatoes
• •Shallow plate for holding the browned ribs

Instructions

1. 1

   Season and brown

   Pat the ribs dry. Season them evenly with 11g of the salt and all the black pepper. Heat 30ml of the olive oil in a wide heavy casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the ribs in three batches, giving each broad side two to three minutes until deeply colored. Allow fifteen to eighteen minutes in all. Transfer each batch to a plate; the meat should be browned outside but still raw near the bone.

   Leave room between the ribs. Crowd the casserole and their moisture cannot escape, so the meat turns grey instead of building the browned flavor the sauce needs.
2. 2

   Build the sofrito

   Lower the heat to medium-low. Spoon off excess pork fat, leaving only a thin coating, then add the remaining 15ml olive oil. Add the onion, red pepper and remaining 4g salt. Cook for twenty to twenty-five minutes, stirring and scraping up the browned bits, until the onion is dark gold and the pepper is very soft. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes, just until its raw smell disappears.

3. 3

   Concentrate the tomato

   Stir in the grated or crushed tomato and the choricero pepper paste. Cook over medium-low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. The mixture is ready when it has darkened, a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a clear trail, and small beads of oil return around the edges. This is the point that decides the sauce. Take the casserole off the heat, stir in the pimentón for twenty seconds, and move straight on so it cannot scorch.

4. 4

   Reduce the wine

   Pour in the red wine and return the casserole to medium heat. Scrape the bottom well and simmer for six to eight minutes, until the wine has reduced by roughly half and its sharp raw smell has softened. The sauce should look loose but no longer watery.

5. 5

   Braise the ribs

   Add 300ml water and the bay leaf, then return the ribs and every drop of juice from the plate. Settle the ribs into the sauce and bring it to a bare simmer. Cover tightly, lower the heat, and cook gently for seventy-five to ninety minutes, turning the ribs once after forty minutes. Add extra hot water in 25ml amounts only if the sauce threatens to catch. The ribs are ready when the meat has drawn back from the bone and a fork twists into it without resistance.

   For steadier heat, put the covered casserole in a 160°C oven after bringing it to a simmer. Braise for the same seventy-five to ninety minutes, then finish the sauce on the stove.
6. 6

   Settle the sauce

   Lift the tender ribs onto a plate and discard the bay leaf. Simmer the sauce uncovered over medium heat for eight to twelve minutes, stirring often, until it coats the back of a spoon but still runs slowly from it. If it becomes too thick, loosen it with 15ml hot water. Return the ribs, turn them carefully through the sauce, and cook for two minutes. Rest the covered casserole off the heat for ten minutes, then serve with thick slices of bread.

Chef Tips

• •Buy meaty bone-in spare ribs with a modest cap of fat, not thin rib tips. Ask the butcher to cut them into pieces about 6cm long if a whole rack will not fit your casserole. The bone and connective tissue give the sauce its body.
• •Fresh red peppers and tomatoes are best from late summer into early autumn. In winter, use 220g drained whole roasted red peppers from a jar and 400g no-salt-added canned peeled tomatoes. Add the roasted pepper after the onion has cooked for fifteen minutes; the sauce will be smoother and a little sweeter.
• •Pimiento choricero paste is sold in small jars. If you cannot find it, soak two dried ñoras in hot water for thirty minutes, split them, discard the seeds and scrape 15g pulp from the skins. Plain sweet paprika alone gives color but not the same ripe-pepper depth.
• •Use a dry, young Rioja, preferably tempranillo, with little obvious oak. A dry local red can stand in, but avoid cooking wine and heavily oaked bottles, which turn harsh as the sauce reduces. Pour the same straightforward red at the table.
• •These ribs should loosen from the bone while keeping their shape. If they resist the fork after ninety minutes, nadie nace sabiendo, and the pig has its own timetable. Give them another ten minutes at the same gentle simmer.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook the complete dish one day ahead if you can. Let it settle for twenty minutes, transfer it to a shallow covered container, and refrigerate within two hours. Overnight, the sauce deepens and the fat rises where it can be lifted off cleanly.
• •Reheat the ribs covered over low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, turning them once. Add 30 to 60ml water if the chilled sauce has set too thick, and do not boil hard or the tender meat will break away from the bones.
• •Leftovers keep for up to three days in the refrigerator or two months in the freezer. Thaw frozen ribs overnight in the refrigerator before reheating gently.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 540g)