Cassoeula Milanese di Maiale e Verza

Ingredients

• 600 g pork ribs, separated into individual ribs
• 300 g cotechino or verzino sausage, left whole
• 2 pork trotters, split lengthways by the butcher
• 1 pork tail, cut into two or three sections
• 1.2 kg Savoy cabbage, frost-sweetened, January–February; outer and inner leaves separated
• For the soffritto
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 1 splash red wine vinegar, a few drops, stirred in at the end
• 500 g white polenta, to serve; not buckwheat taragna

Method

1. 1
   Set a wide, heavy braising pot over a moderately high flame. Working in batches and without added fat, lay the ribs, trotters, and tail sections flat in the dry pot. Brown each piece on all sides until the fat has partially rendered and the surfaces are deep golden. Remove each batch and set aside. The pork should smell of rendered lard and toasted meat, not steam.
2. 2
   Discard all but a thin film of the rendered fat. Reduce the heat to low. Add the butter and, once it has melted into the fat, add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook the soffritto slowly, stirring occasionally, until it is soft, pale gold, and without any raw edge — the onion should be fully translucent and the butter fragrant with cooked vegetable.
3. 3
   Return all browned pork — ribs, trotters, and tail — to the pot. Add just enough water to come halfway up the meat. Bring to a bare simmer, cover, and braise gently. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the heat must remain low enough that the collagen from the trotters and tail dissolves slowly into the liquid, building the silky, unctuous braising sauce that will carry the cabbage. A rolling boil will tighten the proteins and yield nothing but grey, dry meat. The liquid should tremble, not bubble; after roughly one hour the trotters will begin to yield visibly at the skin.
4. 4
   Add the outer cabbage leaves, pressing them down into the braising liquid. Cover and continue the gentle braise for 30 minutes. The outer leaves should soften and begin to collapse, taking on the colour of the cooking fat — a pale, translucent green-gold.
5. 5
   Nestle the cotechino or verzino whole among the pork parts, submerging it partially in the liquid. Add the inner cabbage leaves on top. Cover and braise for a further 15 minutes. The cotechino should be heated through and firm to a gentle press — it must not split or go soft.
6. 6
   Remove the lid. Stir in a few drops of red wine vinegar. Taste the braising liquid: it should be fat, sweet from the cabbage, and rounded by the vinegar. Serve directly from the pot onto white polenta, ladling the cooking liquid generously over each portion.