P
Italian · Milan, Lombardia
Cassouela Milanese — Pork Ribs and Sausage with Savoy Cabbage
Cassouela (from 'cazzuola', the trowel-like spatula used to stir it) is the Milanese winter feast preparation — a braise of pork ribs, salsiccia, ear, tail, and skin with Savoy cabbage (verza) that is cooked in stages: first the pork pieces are browned; the cabbage is partially wilted; then both are combined and braised for 2-3 hours until the pork has rendered its fat into the cabbage and the cabbage has absorbed the pork's flavour. The preparation is heavy, rich, and deeply savoury — a cucina povera preparation that uses every part of the pig alongside the winter cabbage. Traditionally eaten after the first frost of the season when the Savoy cabbage is sweetened by cold.
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I
The Market List
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200 g
cotenna (pork skin)
diced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
800 g
pork ribs
cut into individual ribs
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
400 g
salsiccia (Italian pork sausage)
left whole or halved
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 kg
Savoy cabbage (verza)
outer leaves removed, shredded coarse
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the soffritto
1
carrot
finely diced
Your own market
2
celery stalks
finely diced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
onion
finely diced
Your own market
150 ml
dry white wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 ml
meat or pork broth
warm; used sparingly
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
salt
to season at the end
Your own market
black pepper
freshly ground, to season at the end
Your own market
To serve
500 g
polenta (coarse-ground)
prepared as soft polenta
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Place the diced cotenna in a dry, heavy-bottomed pot or casserole over medium heat. Render without added fat until the skin begins to release its own lard and the pieces turn translucent at the edges — 8 to 10 minutes. The pot should glisten with rendered fat before proceeding.
2
Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the pork ribs and salsiccia in a single layer, working in batches if necessary. Brown on all sides until deeply coloured with no grey remaining — 10 to 12 minutes per batch. Remove and set aside. The fond on the base of the pot should be dark but not scorched.
3
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrot, celery, and onion soffritto to the fat remaining in the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are golden and fully softened — 12 to 15 minutes. The onion should be sweet-smelling, not sharp.
4
Pour in the white wine and deglaze, scraping up all the fond from the base of the pot. Allow the wine to reduce by half — the sharp alcohol smell will give way to a rounder, mellower aroma.
5
Return the browned pork ribs, salsiccia, and cotenna to the pot. Add the shredded Savoy cabbage in batches, pressing each addition down and allowing it to wilt before adding the next. Add only enough warm broth to barely moisten the base of the pot — the cabbage will release substantial moisture of its own. This is where the dish lives or dies: the braise must be concentrated, not soupy — too much liquid now will produce a watery cassouela that the cabbage cannot redeem; too little attention to this balance and neither the fat nor the flavour will fully integrate. The pot, once lidded, should show a gentle, occasional bubble at the surface.
6
Cover the pot and braise over the lowest possible heat for 2 to 3 hours, lifting the lid occasionally to check that the base is not catching. At the end of cooking the cabbage should have completely surrendered its structure, turned dark and glossy with absorbed pork fat, and the pork ribs should yield without resistance when pressed with a spoon. The preparation should hold its shape in the bowl — neither a broth nor a dry mass.
7
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste: the bitterness of the raw cabbage must be entirely absent; the dominant note should be savoury, slightly sweet, and deeply porky. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately in deep bowls over soft polenta.
From the canon — Polenta is the principal cooked grain preparation of northern Italy — from the Veneto through Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Polenta — The Correct Technique and Regional Variations →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Post-frost Savoy cabbage (verza di novembre) harvested after the first hard frost of the season, when cold has converted the leaf starches to sugar; pork from a named heritage breed slaughtered at the seasonal macelleria, with cotenna, pig's ear, and tail included for maximum collagen.
02
Estate — Market-sourced Savoy cabbage from a cold-climate grower, late November onward; free-range pork ribs and artisan salsiccia from a butcher who can supply cotenna; a dry Lombard white wine for deglazing.
03
Market — Firm, tightly packed Savoy cabbage from a good greengrocer; pork ribs and fresh Italian-style sausage from a reliable butcher; cotenna sourced separately if not available with the ribs; any dry white wine.
04
House — Supermarket Savoy cabbage and standard pork spare ribs; fresh pork sausages; cotenna omitted if unavailable, accepting some loss of the characteristic unctuous, gelatinous quality the skin provides.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The cabbage has entirely lost its raw green colour and turned dark, glossy, and reduced; the pork fat coats every leaf.
◇Sight. The preparation holds a cohesive, spoonable consistency in the bowl — neither pooling liquid at the base nor sitting dry and separated.
◇Touch. The pork ribs yield to gentle pressure from a spoon with no resistance; the cotenna is soft and gelatinous rather than rubbery.
◇Smell. The pot carries a deeply savoury, sweet-pork aroma with no sharpness from either raw cabbage or alcohol remaining.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies in the management of liquid: the braise must be concentrated and unctuous — the cabbage's own moisture combined with the rendered pork fat — never augmented to the point of soup.
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VI
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