Chef Graziella
Abbacchio a Scottadito
Roman lamb chops grilled over scorching heat, seasoned with nothing but salt, rosemary, and fire. You eat them with your hands, straight from the grill, burning your fingers because you cannot wait.
Culinary Explorer
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Spuntature di Maiale in Umido
Created by
The Sunday braise of Roman kitchens, where spare ribs surrender to tomato and time, yielding meat that falls from the bone and a sauce that demands crusty bread.
Main Dishes
Italian, Roman
Comfort Food
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
2 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 50 min total
Yield6 servings
In Rome, pork is not fussed over. It is browned, braised, and left alone to become what it was meant to be. Spuntature are the meaty sections of spare ribs, cartilage and bone and fat that most American butchers trim away and discard. Romans know better. They know that these humble cuts, given time and tomato, become something that no tenderloin could match.
This is not a dish that requires your attention. It requires your patience. You brown the meat properly, build a simple soffritto, add wine and tomatoes, and then you leave. Two hours later, you return to find that the meat has surrendered completely, the sauce has thickened with dissolved collagen, and your kitchen smells like Sunday in Trastevere.
There is no secret ingredient. There is no technique that separates success from failure. You need good ribs, decent tomatoes, and the wisdom to let heat and time do their work. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in.
Roman butchers historically sold spuntature as economy cuts to working-class families who could not afford prime chops. The long braise transformed tough, cartilaginous meat into something tender and rich. This cucina povera tradition survives in the trattorias of Testaccio, where the dish remains on Sunday menus alongside other Roman classics born from necessity.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pork spare ribs
Quantity
3 pounds
cut into individual ribs
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
yellow onion
Quantity
1 medium
diced
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and diced
celery stalk
Quantity
1
diced
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
lightly crushed and peeled
dry white wine
Quantity
1 cup
San Marzano tomatoes
Quantity
1 can (28 ounces)
crushed by hand
water or light broth
Quantity
1 cup
bay leaves
Quantity
2
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
crusty bread
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pork spare ribscut into individual ribs | 3 pounds |
| extra virgin olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| yellow oniondiced | 1 medium |
| carrotpeeled and diced | 1 medium |
| celery stalkdiced | 1 |
| garlic cloveslightly crushed and peeled | 2 |
| dry white wine | 1 cup |
| San Marzano tomatoescrushed by hand | 1 can (28 ounces) |
| water or light broth | 1 cup |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| crusty bread | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven with lid
- •Sturdy tongs for turning ribs
Instructions
- 1
Season the ribs
Pat the spare ribs completely dry with paper towels. Season generously on all sides with salt and pepper. The meat must be dry or it will steam instead of brown. Let the ribs sit at room temperature while you prepare the vegetables.
- 2
Brown the meat
Heat the olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven or braising pot over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the ribs in a single layer without crowding. Work in batches if necessary. Brown deeply on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. The color should be mahogany, not pale gold. Remove the browned ribs to a plate.
Do not move the meat while it browns. Let it develop a crust before turning. This fond on the bottom of the pot becomes the foundation of your sauce. - 3
Build the soffritto
Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, until the vegetables soften and the onion turns golden, about 12 minutes. Add the crushed garlic cloves and cook one minute more. The garlic flavors the base; you will remove it later.
- 4
Deglaze with wine
Pour in the white wine. Let it bubble vigorously, scraping any remaining fond from the pot. Cook until the wine reduces by half and you no longer smell raw alcohol, about 3 minutes. The pot should be fragrant with wine and softened vegetables.
- 5
Add tomatoes and braise
Add the crushed tomatoes, water, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Return the ribs to the pot, nestling them into the sauce. The liquid should come about halfway up the ribs; add more water if needed. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to the lowest setting. Cover the pot, leaving the lid slightly ajar.
A true braise happens at a lazy bubble, not a rolling boil. If the sauce bubbles vigorously, the meat will toughen before it tenderizes. - 6
Cook until surrendered
Braise until the meat pulls easily from the bone and offers no resistance to a fork, 2 to 2 and a half hours. Turn the ribs once or twice during cooking. The sauce will reduce and thicken as the collagen from the bones dissolves into it. This is what you want.
- 7
Finish and serve
Remove the bay leaves and garlic cloves. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. The sauce should coat a spoon and taste deeply of pork and tomato. If it seems thin, remove the ribs and simmer uncovered until thickened. Serve the ribs in shallow bowls with plenty of sauce. Crusty bread is not optional; it is how you eat this dish.
Chef Tips
- •Ask your butcher to cut the spare ribs into individual pieces. If they resist, find a better butcher. The ribs need separation to brown properly and to serve easily.
- •The garlic here is restrained: two cloves, crushed but whole, removed before serving. This is Roman cooking, not American-Italian. The garlic should whisper, not shout.
- •If you cannot find spare ribs, country-style ribs work adequately. They lack the bone and cartilage that enrich the sauce, but the meat will be tender. You may need to reduce the cooking time by 30 minutes.
- •This dish improves overnight. Make it Saturday, refrigerate it, skim the solidified fat, and reheat gently for Sunday dinner. The flavors deepen and the sauce becomes more unctuous.
Advance Preparation
- •The braise can be made two days ahead and refrigerated. The fat will solidify on top; remove it before reheating if you prefer a leaner sauce.
- •Reheat gently over low heat, covered, adding a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much.
- •This freezes well for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 350g)
Calories
505 calories
Total Fat
40 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
120 mg
Sodium
650 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
25 g
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