Pork Ribs with Savoy Cabbage — Lombardy

Introduction

Pork ribs with savoy cabbage are the main course that on the Lombard plain goes on the stove when it is cold outside and you have time. The mechanism is simple and allows no shortcuts: the ribs are browned until they take colour, then they stew gently for two hours with the cabbage cut into strips. The cabbage collapses, absorbs the fat the meat releases and turns sweet; the meat comes away from the bone on its own. In the end the casserole holds not two separate ingredients but a single dish, bound by its own sauce.

It is a recipe of patience, not of technique: the only two things that have to be done well are the initial browning — which is what gives the sauce its colour and flavour — and slowness. If you raise the heat to finish sooner, the meat dries out and the cabbage boils instead of stewing. The rest is done by time and by the lid. It is served with polenta, which is the natural side, and it stands up beautifully to being reheated the next day: indeed, many maintain that the next day it is better.

With this recipe we pour the Cabernet Veneto I.G.T. by Italo Cescon, a red from the Piave with dry tannins that dissolve the fat of the ribs and a herbaceous vein that goes out to meet the cabbage.

The Story of Ribs with Savoy Cabbage

This dish comes from the crossing of two farming calendars that fall at the same moment of the year. The pig was slaughtered in winter, when the cold made it possible to work the meat, and once the noble cuts and everything that became cured sausage had been set aside, the ribs were what remained: little meat, plenty of bone, plenty of fat — a cut that is not enough on its own and that calls for long cooking. Savoy cabbage, for its part, is the only vegetable still standing in the field in January, and one that after the first frost becomes more tender and sweeter. Putting them together was not a recipe but a consequence.

The most famous version of this pair is the Milanese cassoeula, a richer and more codified dish: to the ribs it adds the rind, the trotters, the head and the verzini sausages, and for this it asks for more time and more stomach. Ribs with savoy cabbage are the version made at home — the same principle, a single ingredient. They are cooked in the same way across the whole plain, from eastern Piedmont to the Veneto, and every kitchen has its own detail: some put in a spoonful of tomato conserve, some leave it white, some add a sausage to give the sauce a sharper savour.

Ingredients

For the ribs

pork ribs (spare ribs)1,2 kg
Filtered Veneto Extra Virgin Olive Oil del Grappa 500ml3 tablespoons
onion1 large
carrot1
celery1 stick
garlic2 cloves
dry white wine150 ml
tomato purée1 tablespoon
hot meat stock300 ml
bay leaves2 leaves
rosemary1 sprig
salt and black pepperto taste

For the savoy cabbage

savoy cabbage1, about 1 kg

To serve

yellow polentaas desired
Mostarda with horseradish and appleto taste

Equipment Needed

Wide casserole with a lid, cast iron if possible
Kitchen tongs
Large knife and chopping board
Wooden spoon

Tip: The casserole must be wide enough to hold the ribs in a single layer: if they overlap they do not brown, they boil in their own liquid and the base stays pale. If you do not have one large enough, brown them in two batches.

How to Make Pork Ribs with Savoy Cabbage — Traditional Recipe

Brown the ribs

Divide the rack into single ribs and dry them well with kitchen paper — wet meat does not brown. Heat the oil in the casserole over high heat and lay the ribs in a single layer, without moving them for 3-4 minutes. Turn them with the tongs and brown the other side as well, until they are dark and crisp on every face: about ten minutes in all. Season with salt, take the ribs out of the casserole and set them aside on a plate.

Chef's tip: What stays stuck to the base of the casserole is not burnt: it is the flavour of the dish. You will lift it with the wine in the next step.

Make the base and deglaze

Lower the flame to medium and throw into the same casserole the finely chopped onion, carrot and celery, with the two crushed garlic cloves. Let them soften for 8-10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is translucent. Put the ribs back in with the liquid they have released, raise the flame and pour in the white wine: scrape the base with the wooden spoon to lift the dark crust. When the wine has evaporated, add the tomato purée, the bay and the rosemary.

Chef's tip: Dissolve the purée in a ladle of hot stock before pouring it in, or it stays lumpy and sticks to the base.

Add the savoy cabbage

Remove the damaged outer leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters, take out the hard core and slice everything into one-centimetre strips. Add it to the casserole: it will look like too much, but in ten minutes it drops by two thirds. Stir to let it take on flavour, pour in the hot stock almost to cover, bring to the boil and lower to the minimum. Cover and let it go for an hour and a half, stirring every twenty minutes and adding a ladle of stock if it dries out too much.

Chef's tip: The right cooking is a barely perceptible simmer, with the lid misting over. If you hear it bubbling, the heat is too high.

Reduce and serve

Take off the lid, raise the flame slightly and let it dry out for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats the cabbage: it must not stay soupy. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper — the sauce has concentrated, so salt at the end and not before. Remove the bay and the sprig of rosemary. Serve piping hot with the polenta, and bring the mostarda with horseradish and apple to the table separately, for those who want it.

Chef's tip: The meat is ready when it comes away from the bone as you push it with a fork. If it resists, put the lid back on and give it another twenty minutes: there is no way to speed it up.

Wine to Pair with Pork Ribs with Savoy Cabbage

Ribs with savoy cabbage bring three forces into play that the wine has to face all at once: the fat of the pork, which is abundant and which long cooking dissolves into the sauce; the toasted notes of the browning, which stay attached to the crust of the meat; and the cabbage, which after an hour of stewing loses its sulphurous vein and turns sweet and vegetal. So you need a red with dry tannin to cut the fat, lively acidity to cleanse the palate with every mouthful, and a profile with something herbaceous to say to the cabbage. What you do not need is power: a very warm, concentrated wine would amplify the unctuousness of the dish instead of cutting it, and would cover the sweetness of the vegetable, which is the most delicate part of the dish.

The Red We Recommend

Cabernet Veneto I.G.T. — Italo Cescon — The **Cabernet Veneto I.G.T. del Tralcetto** is the pairing of choice, and the reason lies in its blend: the 30% Cabernet Franc brings that herbaceous note — of leaf, of woodland — which is the natural bridge to the stewed cabbage, while the 70% Cabernet Sauvignon gives the dry tannins that dissolve the fat of the ribs. The 13% vol stay in the right measure: enough to hold up a braised dish, not so much as to cover it. The notes of spice and berries gather up the browning of the meat, and the freshness that the wood does not cover keeps the mouth clean until the next mouthful. An honest warning: it is a young vintage, and freshly poured the tannin is still restless — the winery recommends taking it out of storage the day before, and it is worth listening to them. Serve it at 18-20 °C, in carré glasses.

Want to explore the grape variety? our guide to Cabernet from the Veneto

The Territorial Alternative

Raboso del Piave D.O.C. — Italo Cescon — Staying on the banks of the Piave you change register without changing house. **Raboso** is the native grape of eastern Veneto, and its name comes from *rabiosa*, «angry»: marked acidity and tannin, which here become a virtue because the fat of the ribs needs them more than it needs softness. The 12,50% vol are lower than the Cabernet, but the long passage in oak has brought warm notes of spice and vanilla that soften the sharp edges and converse with the long cooking. Sour cherry and berries hold up well against the reduced sauce. Choose it if your dish turns out particularly fatty; if instead you cut back the ribs and stretch the cabbage, Raboso risks coming across as severe and leaving the mouth dry. Serve it at 16-18 °C.

Want to explore the grape variety? our guide to Raboso del Piave

Craft Beer as an Alternative

Reckless Bock Beer — Norah's Farm — The **Reckless Bock** is a bottom-fermented Dunkel Bock, and on the ribs it works by contrast: the caramel and dried fruit of the malt gather up the toasted notes of the browning, the measured bitterness — the hops here are barely hinted at — balances the fat without attacking it, and the carbonation cleanses the palate where wine would use tannin. The producer recommends it for red meats and smoked foods, and the mechanism is the same. Two things to know before choosing it: the 7% vol is not little for an already demanding main course, and the slightly sweet finish adds to the sweetness of the stewed cabbage — if you prefer a clean contrast, stay with the wine. Serve it at 8-10 °C, cool but not ice-cold, or the malty notes stay closed.

Want to explore the style? dark and doppelbock beers

Variations

With sausage: add 300 g of sausage in pieces along with the ribs, after browning. It is the step that brings the dish closer to cassoeula, and it gives the sauce a sharper savour.
Without tomato: skip the tomato purée and add only stock. The dish stays paler and the sweetness of the cabbage comes through more — it is the version made in the valleys.
With potatoes: add 400 g of potatoes in chunks in the last half hour of cooking. They absorb the sauce and turn the dish into a meal in itself, with no need for polenta.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to blanch the savoy cabbage before using it?

No, and in fact it is counterproductive: the cabbage goes into the casserole raw, so that it gives its liquid to the sauce instead of leaving it in the blanching water. The only reason to blanch it is to soften its smell while it cooks, but part of the flavour is lost.

Can I use a pressure cooker?

You can, and the time drops to about 35 minutes from the whistle, but the result is different: the meat becomes tender without the sauce reducing, and the cabbage stays more watery. If you use one, at the end of cooking take off the lid and let it dry out over high heat for about ten minutes.

Which savoy cabbage should I buy?

The real savoy, the one with dark blistered leaves, not smooth white cabbage: it stands up to long cooking without falling apart into mush. Choose a head that is heavy for its size and with the outer leaves tightly closed. In deep winter, after the frosts, it is sweeter.

Can it be made the day before?

Yes, and it is advisable. As it rests the dish binds, and the fat rises and sets on the surface, so the next day you can take some of it off if you want it lighter. Reheat over low heat with a ladle of stock, covered.

Pork Ribs with Savoy Cabbage — Traditional Recipe

Introduction

The Story of Ribs with Savoy Cabbage