Italian Ribs and Rice

Christmas at the farmhouse. The full count: Helen and me, David and Karen, Teddy, Anna, and James; Sarah and Tom, Ben and Lucy. Nine people, twelve if you count Frost, who counts himself and should. The gingerbread decorating happened Sunday afternoon. I watched from the doorway because I had been categorically excluded from the process on grounds that I eat the decorating materials, which is not entirely untrue.

Anna directed the frosting colors with the confidence of an art director. Teddy made his gingerbread men look like they were experiencing mild distress, which I found more realistic than the cheerful versions. Ben copied Anna's technique with the earnest competence of a four-year-old who wants to do things right. Lucy ate a cookie and looked pleased with herself. James ate the frosting directly from the tube Helen gave him to hold for thirty seconds, which was predictable and nobody's fault.

Christmas dinner: Helen's standing rib roast, which she makes once a year. Two ribs, bone-in, dry-rubbed the night before with salt and herbs and left uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. The crust when it came out of the oven looked like it was made by a professional, though the professional is a sixty-four-year-old woman from Shelburne who learned to cook from her mother and grandmother and has never needed culinary school and doesn't need to.

I made the mashed potatoes. I am specifically and exclusively responsible for the mashed potatoes at every Christmas dinner and I take this responsibility seriously. Yukon Golds, boiled tender, riced hot, cold butter added in pieces, warm cream, salt, white pepper. The ratio requires a great deal of butter. I have made these potatoes since 1982 and they are correct.

The table was full and warm. Ben fell asleep at eight-thirty in the way children fall asleep when the day has been everything a day can be. Lucy fell asleep before that. Helen and I did the dishes after everyone went to bed. She washed. I dried. We have been doing this since 1980. The kitchen was quiet afterward in a way that felt complete rather than empty. There is a difference. I have learned to tell the two kinds apart. This was the complete kind.

Helen’s standing rib roast is a once-a-year event — the kind of dish that earns its place on the table through ritual and patience and forty-some years of doing it right. But the day after Christmas, when the house is quieter and the children have gone home and Frost is the only one underfoot, what I want is something that still feels warm and deliberate without requiring ceremony. Italian ribs and rice is that dish for me: bone-in, slow-cooked, the kind of thing that smells right from the moment it goes in the pan and asks nothing of you while it finishes. It is not the roast. It is not trying to be. That’s exactly why it belongs here.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 lbs bone-in beef short ribs or country-style pork ribs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine or beef broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked
3 cups beef broth or water
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Brown the ribs. Season the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ribs and sear for 3–4 minutes per side until deeply browned. Remove and set aside.
Sauté the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. In the same pot, add the diced onion and cook for 4–5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, stirring so it does not burn.
Build the sauce. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine (or broth), oregano, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer.
Braise the ribs. Return the browned ribs to the pot, nestling them into the sauce. Cover tightly, reduce heat to low, and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes, turning the ribs once halfway through, until the meat is very tender and beginning to pull away from the bone.
Cook the rice. Remove the ribs to a plate and tent loosely with foil. Stir the beef broth and uncooked rice into the tomato sauce in the pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and cook for 18–20 minutes until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid.
Finish and serve. Fluff the rice with a fork and taste for seasoning. Return the ribs to the pot or arrange them over the rice on a serving platter. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Italian Ribs and Rice — The Sunday After Christmas, When the Roast Is Gone and Something Simpler Is Right