Brasato di Maiale con Ragu Nero

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pounds boned loin of pork
• tied at 2-inch intervals with butchers twine
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 6 large fresh sage leaves
• 3 ounces pancetta
• 3 fat cloves garlic
• peeled and crushed
• 1/3 cup flat parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups good red wine
• 2 cups canned tomato puree

Instructions

1. Dry the pork with absorbent paper towels.
2. Rub the meat with the sea salt and tuck the sage leaves under the twine.
3. Permit the pork to absorb the salt and sage perfumes for 1/2 hour or so.
4. Prepare the porks braising sauce.
5. With a mezzaluna or a very sharp knife, mince the pancetta with the garlic and parsley to a fine paste.
6. In a large terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole over a medium flame, warm the olive oil and melt the aromatic paste.
7. Brown the pork, crusting it well on all sides, a task that takes at least 10 minutes.
8. Pour 1 cup of the wine over the pork, letting it evaporate before adding the remaining cup of wine and the tomato puree.
9. Cover the casserole tightly, bringing the ingredients to a simmer.
10. Lower the flame and permit the pork to braise, its liquids barely simmering, for 2 hours.
11. Lift the lid and test the doneness of the meatit should be fork-tender.
12. Permit the pork a rest while serving a bit of pasta, as suggested on page 71.
13. Afterward, carve the pork into 1/3-inch-thick slices and present it with spoonfuls of the sauce.