PASTA WITH BONES

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The Minimalist; Tomato Sauce With a Little Meat to It

By MARK BITTMAN
Published: October 8, 1997

ANY kitchen minimalist has to be familiar with a basic tomato sauce. Typically, you make it by coloring a little garlic or onion in oil, then adding crushed tomatoes and cooking over medium-high heat. When the mixture becomes ''saucy,'' about 20 minutes later, it's done.

The variations on this theme are nearly infinite. But one of my favorites, which requires considerably more time but almost no extra effort, adds the wonderful depth of flavor, silken texture and satisfying chewiness of slow-cooked meat, bone and marrow. Southern Italian in origin, it begins with bony meat (or meaty bones) and requires lengthy simmering.

You can use almost any meat on the bone you like -- spare ribs are one good option -- but I think this sauce is most wonderful with a single piece of meaty veal shank, the cut you'd use for osso buco. When the meat is ready to fall off the bone, it is chopped into the sauce. (Meat is a supporting player here, not the star.)

Simple as this is, there are a couple of fine points. For best flavor, brown the meat well before adding the tomatoes. And use a narrow pot or partly cover a wider one, because you don't want the sauce to lose so much moisture that it becomes too thick during the relatively long cooking period.

Finally, in a pasta dish, this sauce is rich enough not to need grated cheese. A better garnish would be a large handful of coarsely chopped parsley or a chiffonade of basil.

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  • 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 small dried hot red chilies, optional
  • 1 piece meaty veal shank, 1/2 to 1 pound
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, with juice
  • 1 pound ziti, penne or other cut pasta
  • 1/2 cup or more roughly chopped parsley or basil leaves.

Preparation

Step 1

1. Place the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. After a minute, add the chilies and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the veal shank, and raise the heat to medium high; cook, turning as necessary, until the meat is nicely browned, 10 minutes or more. When the meat is just about done, add the garlic, salt and pepper.
2. When the garlic has softened a bit, crush tomatoes and add them, with their juice. Turn the heat to medium-low to maintain a steady simmer. If you are using a broad pot, cover it partially. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender and just about falling off the bone, at least 1 hour.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt it. Cook the pasta until it is tender but firm. Remove the veal shank, chop it coarsely, scoop out any marrow and return the meat to the sauce (discard the bone). Remove and discard the chilies.
4. Drain and sauce the pasta; sprinkle it with the herb, toss, and serve.

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