Ingredients:

• 2 kilograms pork ribs
• 80 grams onion, chopped
• 80 grams celery, chopped
• 80 grams carrots, chopped
• 400 millilitres dry white wine
• 900 grams peeled tomatoes, canned (from Italy)
• dried chillies, as preferred
• water

Method:

1. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pot and add onion, celery, and carrots. Saute until soft and juices start to release.
2. Add pork ribs and season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown then de-glaze with white wine. Reduce the wine by 50%.
3. Crush the tomatoes by hand or with a knife then pour over the ribs. Add 2 cups of water.
4. Season to preferred taste and cover with a lid.
5. Simmer until pork is so soft it starts to fall off the bone. While cooking, skim off extra fat released from the pork.

Potato gnocchi fork-grooved to capture sauce flavors

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:

• 10 medium potatoes
• 5 large eggs
• 1.5 kilograms all-purpose flour

Method:

1. Scrub potatoes and place them, unpeeled, onto a vegetable rack over (but not in) a large pot of boiling water. Steam until tender all the way through but not until falling apart. A kitchen knife should be able to pass through with some resistance. You can also boil them to the same tenderness. It is important for the potatoes to not be overcooked.
2. As soon as the potatoes are tender enough to push through a vegetable mill, remove them from the rack. When they can be handled safely, but while still hot, peel them and pass them through the vegetable mill over a large bowl.
3. Scatter flour on a flat surface (wood is best). Make a crater within the flour and add the milled potato. With hands, mix in the eggs and knead the potatoes integrating the flour until dough is smooth but not too hard and not mushy. Be careful not to overwork the dough; it should be soft and supple.
4. Cut the dough into small rectangular bars around 15cm long and using your palms, roll each piece into a rope about 2.5cm in diameter. Cut each rope into equal lengths, about 2cm long. Continue until all dough has been rolled and cut.
5. Roll each gnocchi along the tines of a fork to impress the soft dough with a ridged grooves.

Finally…

1. Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water until each floats to the surface.
2. In a large skillet heat the rib sauce and add the cooked gnocchi. Simmer together for 20 seconds then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese.