Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs with Romesco

I saw this and knew I wanted to make it for Sunday dinner.  He made this on his show with Sammy Hagar.  As it turns out, I was under the weather on Sunday from imbibing out Saturday night, so this become Monday's meal.  I used pork back ribs and the seasoning was fresh cracked black pepper, kosher salt and smoked paprika.  I detest smoked paprika, but thought it may be okay in this instance...

I took a butter knife and removed the fat silver skin off the back of the ribs.  Below, you can see on the bottom rack - I had half the membrane off at this point.

I seasoned both sides.

I preheated the oven to 250°F.

I put them on a rack on a tray lined with foil.   In they went and I set the timer for 4 hours.  I squeezed half a lime over each side of each rack of ribs.

For the Romesco sauce I used:

• Extra-virgin olive oil. as needed
• 1 1/2 cups large-cubed sourdough bread, crusts removed
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup blanched almond slivers
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• One 12-ounce jar fire-roasted red peppers, drained
• One 14.5-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

I put a good swirl of olive oil in a sauce pan.  I toasted the bread cubes and seasoned with salt.  When done, I removed them into a bowl and set aside.  I dry toasted the almond slivers next.

I removed them to where the bread was and poured another swirl of oil in.  I sauteed the garlic for a couple minutes.  Then I mixed in the red peppers, tomatoes and cayenne.  

I simmered until reduced, about 10 minutes and then removed from the heat.   And then the fun started.  I put the nuts and bread into the food processor and blended but nothing happened but an awful moaning whirring sound.  I messed around for a bit, and then the machine left the house.  I got good use out of it, 20-something years at least.  Then I used the blender.  That crushed the nuts at least but as it thickened, it too stopped doing its job.  I finished with an immersion blender.  It was unhappy with the task too.  It was quite thick, too much bread I think but at least it got blended.  It was tasty.

I made some corn on the cob and then I served, family style.

The lime really balanced the fattiness in the ribs.  I liked that best.  This was really a simple dish done well.  We both loved that Romesco sauce and it was fantastic on the corn.  There's lots left so I'm sure I'll find some other uses for it.  All in all, a very satisfying meal.