“SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.”

– Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

I promised in one of my posts yesterday that I’d give you the step-by-step for my roast pork sugo. This sauce works just as well with other meats. Sugo, by the way, simply means sauce, and as such there are a zillion variations within the Italian canon, but, give this one a try – it’s a classic, and absolutely delicious.

1 can of white beans (210gm drained weight, or about 7 ounces); two ribs of celery, leaves included, chopped; 1 large onion, chopped; 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon of dried oregano (or 2 tablespoons of fresh leaves); 1½ tablespoons tomato paste; 1 cup of dry white wine; 500 gm (a little over a pound) of roasted pork loin (or other cut), shredded or finely diced; 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; and, not pictured, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 cups of pork stock (if you can, otherwise, chicken, veal, or vegetable stock is fine).

In a saucepan cook the onion, garlic and celery in the olive oil over medium heat, until it’s soft and the onion is transluscent.

This is more or less how it will look after about 7-8 minutes. If you haven’t diced or shredded the pork (as I hadn’t in the first photo above), this is a good time to do so.

Add the tomato paste, oregano, wine and vinegar and cook until the liquid is reduced by about half.

Add the beans, the pork.

Add the stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest setting to keep the sauce at a simmer for 45 minutes. It will reduce down from this point and darken a bit.

Serve over pasta and enjoy!