7.2 Pork and beef

7.2.1 “Raging” Rigatoni

This is another old one, dating back (for me) to the 1970’s and is derived from The Complete Book of Pasta, by Jack Denton Scott. A more formal name for it is Rigatoni All’Arrabbiatta. It is simple to make, and leftovers reheat well. The biggest change I made was to add onions and garlic to it. I also do not saute the bacon; rather I let it cook with the sauce, resulting in what I think is a much more flavorful dish.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, coarsely sliced
2 garlic gloves, grated
4 slices bacon
2-3 jalapeno peppers, sliced
1 28 oz can tomatoes, (San Marzano are the best, but any will work)
Italian seasoning and black pepper to taste
6-8 oz pasta (the original calls for rigatoni, but I often substitute penné, ziti, or some other similar tube variety)
grated parmesan or romano cheese

  1. Sauté onions and garlic in oil until soft in a 12 inch skillet, about 5-10 minutes
  2. Add tomatoes, bacon, peppers and seasoning.
  3. Cook uncovered over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula, chopping the tomatoes and breaking apart the bacon as you do so.
  4. Cook uncovered over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula, chopping the tomatoes as you do so.
  5. While the sauce is reducing, cook your pasta by your favorite method (I use water with a dash of olive oil) al denté and drain.
  6. Combine the sauce and the pasta and serve, with parmesan or romano cheese available to sprinkle over servings.

Like all Italian food, this goes well with a serving of crusty bread (like baguettes and a side salad.

7.2.1.1 Note

This might be adaptable to the IP using the recipe for Spaghetti and Meat Sauce as a template. Worth a try. If so, here’s a possible scenario.

  1. Saute onion and garlic as above.
  2. Add the bacon and sauté until it is broken apart but still soft.
  3. Add 1/2 cup broth or water and deglaze.
  4. Add jalapenos, black pepper and Italian seasoning.
  5. Add remaining 1.5 cup of water or broth.
  6. Layer pasta on top and press to submerge.
  7. Drain the whole tomatoes and layer tem on top.
  8. Pressure cook for 5 minutes (or half the recommended time - 1 minute if applicable), followed by a controlled quick release.
  9. To thicken, heat on sauté for a few minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon.

7.2.2 Breakfast meatballs

Recently, we had two friends over for breakfast, and Alice suggested some kind of sausage. I truly dislike “breakfast links”, so I looked for alternatives by googling “breakfast meatballs”. I came up with two recipes and am going to try a combination of the two. The base recipe is here, and I’ve added a few touches from here. Since one of our guests has a genuine problem with gluten, I will use oats rather than bread crumbs as a binder.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

3.5 oz. bacon
1 egg
1/2 cup instant oats
1 red cooking apple, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp dried sage
3/4 tsp crushed fennel seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 lb ground pork

For the glaze:

1/4 cup apple jelly
1/4 cup maple syrup

  1. Fry the bacon until crisp. Cool and dice it into fine pieces.
  2. Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix.
  3. Cover a sheet pan with foil and spray with cooking oil.
  4. Shape the meat mixture into one inch balls and place on sheet pan.
  5. Separately, combine the glaze ingredients and heat until they are smooth.
  6. Bake the meatballs at 400o F. for 8-10 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 160 o F.
  7. Drizzle the meatballs with half of the glaze and bake for two more minutes.
  8. Place the meatballs in a serving dish and drizzle with remaining glaze.

7.2.2.1 Notes

The times given in the recipe were too short, at least in our toaster oven. After 10 minutes, the internal temperature was 120o F; it took another 5 minutes for them to reach 160o.

I prepared this for our friends, both of whom are power lifters. Suffice it to say that the meatballs disappeared instantly. I managed to snag a couple of them, and the were quite good.