I sort of wing it. I was never given a recipe and Italian food is best without recipes.

But...

This is what I used this time...

100g pancetta
1 onion
1 carrot
1 bit of celery
1 knob of butter
4 pork ribs (nice meaty ones are good)
2 rump steaks approx 250g each.
glug of red wine
squeeze of tomato paste
4 cans of baby roma tomatoes.

for the involtini/dressing
equal portion of parmigianno/pecorino and parsley
a handful of pine nuts

Pound out the rump steak (you can use chuck/sirloin etc – just a good fatty cut that will stand up to a slow cook) then spread the involtini filling in the steak and roll it up and tie with butcher's twine or toothpicks.

Add olive oil to large dutch oven style pot and brown meat and remove.

In the same pot add the butter (if you can get lardo use that), pancetta and sofrito on a very low heat and cook slowly until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add wine and tomato paste and let the alcohol cook out

Add the canned tomatoes and give it a swirl to mix everything up.

Add back the meat ensuring it's all covered by the sauce – if it's not add a little water.

Put on a very, very low heat uncovered on the stove. It shouldn't be simmering at all it should be maybe a bubble every 30 seconds or so comes to the surface. Leave for 5-6 hours.

Remove meat (this is traditionally eaten as the main course) and you're left with the sauce.

Pick a pasta and eat. Don't use spaghetti!

There's are a million +1 ways to make this but this is more or less how I was taught. The most important things I think are unlike bolognaise this should have a lot of tomato sauce, the very low and slow cook which puts so much flavour in there and the meat needs to be whole pieces not ground (preferably with some bone in there).

where do the pork ribs go?
it sounds delicious ....very similar to braciole.

In the sauce to slow cook.

King crab legs
mixed green salad
steak fries
raw tofu

reheated chocolate fondue (very challenging with the oil separation)
dippers - Angel food cake, banana, apple, strawberries, marshmallows, pineapple

Are you in Orlando, or do you live near Ocala (the Villages)? Your nearest TJ's would either be in Orlando or Gainesville if the latter location.

I’m in Leesburg. I will occasionally drive 30 minutes to Clermont or The Villages for something special. Ocala and Orlando are 60+ minutes away and Orlando involves more traffic than I care to deal with most days.

I thought I read that you didn't buy the crab because of the package size.i have never seen anyone serve crab legs that way rather than leaving it in the shell.

We do, about half the time.

why would anybody except Splash Mermaid eat the crab legs in the shell? I know it’s crunchy but those shells have mini-thorns. At some point I’m going to puncture my skin when I touch them.

so yes. I prefer crab legs without shells. I buy them on Monday, remove the shells while the steak fries are finishing in the oven, and then leave the shells in the sink. Post supper, I put the shells in kitchen compost bin, take the compost bag to the big compost bin in the garage, open the garage door, and remove the compost and other bins from garage to sidewalk :-)

Are you into Louie salads? I'm thinking that would be a wonderful way to enjoy that crab, and I may give it a shot this weekend.

Ok, but did you serve them just as is in the picture? No drawn butter, lemon, remoulade, or anything? Not that I'd want to cover up the taste of good crab, just a little enhancement.

I hadn't made this dish in ages -- since before Mr. CE and I started dating -- but am so glad I did! It's such a nice cold weather dish, and he really enjoyed it. Simple to make, too. (It's a Kenji/Serious Eats dish, though I make it by rendering bacon fat in step one, then tossing the bacon back in at the end of the dish.)

Of course I don't eat the shells. I like the whole process of taking out each piece and eating it and then the next piece. Plus it stays warm in the shell and cools off way too fast once on a plate.
And I dip them in warm garlic/lemon butter.

I too have only had bagna cauda that is like a pot of oil.....nothing even close to spinach/artichoke dip which is thick and creamy. And also just a pot at the table....preferably something heavy that holds in the heat a bit.

I love Louis salads but actually think that the seafood is good enough to eat on its own while having salad on the side.

my spouse uses toppings like melted butter, Lemon, bays, etc but I like eating these as is in the photo.

i was referring to SPLASH movie with Daryl Hannah where she plays a mermaid who eats her seafood (lobster) with the shell. I don’t eat the shell like she did. I also don’t heat up the crab legs. Costco cold section to my car to our fridge to the serving bowl. At some point I’ll buy it from Costco where they failed to cook it and then I might regret not cooking this.