Calabrian Chili Slow Braised Pork Shoulder Ragu and Pasta

This recipe is one of our family favorites! One of the most remarkable things about Italian food is simple inexpensive cuts of meat like pork shoulder cooked slow for hours until it transforms into melt in your mouth perfection, each bite better than the last. This ragu calls for short think pasta like rigatoni or paccheri

Ingredients:

1 lb Rigatoni or Paccheri Pasta

2-3 lb bone in pork shoulder

50-75 oz container of chopped tomatoes

2-3 Tblsp Calabrian Chili Sauce

2-3 large cloves of sliced garlic

1 large diced onion

1 bunch chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper to taste

fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Trampolini Black Label EVOO for cooking and finishing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees

Wash pork shoulder with water, dry with paper towels, rub with sea salt and pepper

Heat EVOO in large sauce pot, add pork shoulder and let brown on all sides turning once each side develops a nice golden brown color

Remover pork shoulder from pan

Add onions, garlic, Calabrian chili sauce, and 3/4 of chopped parsley, and saute lightly stirring for about 2 mins

Add chopped tomatoes and stir

Put pork shoulder back in pot, cover with lid and place in oven at 225 degrees for 6 hours

Take pot out of oven, remove lid carefully use tongs to hold and help shred/remove meat from bone

Remove bone and place on cutting board to remove some of the stubborn large pieces of meat from the bone and chop up meat to be put back into pot with the bone(having the whole bone cooking in the pot alongside the meat adds a lot of flavor).

Put lid back on and back in the oven for another hour at 225 degrees

Cook rigatoni "al dente" according to directions on package

Remove pot from oven, carefully remove lid, remove the bone, and pour 3/4 of sauce in another sauce pot

Add cooked rigatoni to original pot with 1/4 of sauce, stir and toss until sauce coats the pasta

Serve with an extra ladle of sauce on top of each serving, sprinkle with fresh grated parmigiano reggiano and garnish with remaining chopped parsley and a drizzle of Trampolini Black Label or Novello if seasonally available.