Tuscan Style Spare Ribs with Honey-Balsamic Glaze
I am a huge fan of ribs, have been for a very long time. I suppose gnawing the succulent meat off those bones ties into a primal instinct where, during the caveman era, our highest point of culinary innovation was throwing large chunks of meat into a fire and devouring it as soon as we can.
Now, growing up in the central US, my idea of ribs involve them being smoked low and slow then glazed with a sweet and slightly spicy barbecue sauce that smears all over my face and fills me with joy. However, over in Tuscany, they have a unique way of cooking and eating ribs that I found to be different but fascinating enough to try them out myself.
With this method, the ribs are rubbed with a flavorful spice paste that contains fennel, coriander and lots of strong flavors before being slow cooked then finished with a sweet and sour glaze. I feel like these kinds of ribs are right up my alley, so I’m very excited to give them a taste!
I will point out that you want to make sure you’re using St. Louis style spare ribs for this recipe as they tend to cook a bit more evenly.
Serves 6 to 8
Time: 2 hours plus marinating
Difficulty: Easy
For The Spice Paste:
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 racks of St. Louis style spare ribs (5 to 5 1/2 pounds in total)
For the Glaze
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
For the spice paste, tip the fennel, coriander, and sesame seeds into a small frying pan over medium low heat, then gently toast, shaking the pan now and then, until the spices start to smell aromatic and you can hear a popping noise coming from them.
Transfer the spices to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder along with the paprika, salt, allspice and rosemary. Grind everything down to crack open the spices, it doesn’t have to be finely ground, then add the mustard, Worcestershire, brown sugar and olive oil and stir into a thick paste.
Use a pairing knife to cut into the thin membrane on the underside of the ribs, known as silver skin, then grab it with paper towels and pull it off as best as you can. Rub the ribs all over with the paste you made earlier, place the ribs into ziptop bag and let them marinade for at least 6 hours or overnight. (Although if you’re short on time, just marinating for an hour will make a big difference)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/170 C. Wrap the ribs in a few layers of heavy duty aluminum foil and place onto a baking sheet. Bake the ribs for 90 minutes with the foil on.
For the glaze, heat the balsamic vinegar and honey together in a small saucepan then let it simmer together until it starts to thicken, should only take a minute or two. Unwrap the ribs from the foil, then brush on some of the glaze, enough to get a thin coat, and bake for another 30 minutes or until browned and fully cooked.
Let the ribs rest for at least 10 minutes, then flip the ribs over and use a serrated knife to cut between each bone to make individual ribs. Serve with more glaze on the side.
