I made this for our New Years Day dinner. Fantastic recipe, highly recommended. Used a 5 1/2 lb bone-in picnic shoulder, trimmed the fat and skin, added proportionately more champagne to compensate. The ingredients work so well together. Served with brussell sprouts/pecans and box stuffing from Whole Foods with some sauteed brown mushrooms folded in. Considering this for next Thanksgiving, along with a turkey breast for the traditionalists. Yes to the Brut Rose as the accompanying wine. Perfect.

By murphykm56 | 

January 1, 2009

Made this twice and doctored it some. Recommendations to the recipe:

* reduce the wine for a couple of minutes, not the 12 mins called for

* double the amount of tomato juice

*browning the meat is important. Use the full 8 mins

Don't let the stew lose too much moisture or it will dry out. Not good. An excellent recipe. Suggest serving with a side of rabe, blanched and sauteed in olive oil, along with the polenta. Wonderful!. 

By murphykm56 | 

December 7, 2008

EXCELLENT dish, with a couple of important changes: bake in a 400 oven for 25, not 45 minutes; triple the garlic and mince before sauteing; double the fennel seeds; use a 35 oz can of tomato paste not a 28 oz can; throw in some fresh thyme, which I used, or fresh oregano into the simmering sausage/tomato sauce. I had to substitute lite cottage cheese for ricotta and it was just fine. This was a big hit! Highly recommended.

By murphykm56 | 

October 23, 2008