I made this sauce at my dad’s house on a journey to baked ziti. It was definitely the best baked ziti I had ever made and everyone in the house (my aunts, uncles, cousins, and brothers) agreed. We ate and then played cards while my dad listened from a hospice bed in the other room. At one point my chair broke and fell out from under me. It was one of a set of dining room chairs that I had sat on as a young child unwilling to eat any more dinner but forbidden from leaving the table. I fell through the chair as the legs gave out and we all laughed together in unison. My dad died a week later. We were all there until he was gone. It was complicated and it sucked and it continues to suck and be complicated but I had never felt closer to my family or more grateful to be a member of it. I’ve been wanting to develop a baked ziti recipe and maybe one day I will, but it all starts with the sauce. This month, I have made this sauce three times and fed it to three breastfeeding friends on three separate occasions. Which is to say it’s great for celebrating, whether you’re coming into this world or going out of it.

The grocery store in my home town is Elk County Foods. It was previously called Jubilee and before that, The Market Basket, which is how it is canonically known to everyone in town (or at least to my family which makes up at least fourteen percent of the town). It’s a small, dank store that has changed little in my thirty-five years, but now sells alcohol, which was a godsend to me during this past February while I watched my father die. When I was a kid, my mom brought us here to rent VHS tapes. You picked out your tape(s) from one of three shelves and paid the lady in the window to rent it for a few days. When you returned it, you gave it back to the lady in the window. Once, my mom ran in to quickly return a tape, leaving me in the passenger seat of the running minivan. I immediately plopped over the center console and grabbed the gear shift on the steering column, pulling it into neutral. With my three year old ass in the driver’s seat, the van went careening backwards through the parking lot headed straight for the highway on the other side. A man jumped into the car and in one motion, grabbed me and slammed his foot on the brake. When my mom came out of the store a full ninety seconds after she had gone in, the man screamed at her. Another time at the Market Basket, after my older brother had whispered in my ear, I shouted down the aisle to my mom on the other end, “Andy said boys have penises and girls have BAGINAS.” When I was a preteen, my friends and I would pull our change and ride our bikes there to buy Everlasting Gobstoppers and bags of chips to hold us over so we could keep swimming in the Clarion until the sun went down. Going into the Market Basket now feels like walking into my elementary school. A relic of the time before I was fifteen. I feel like my head will punch through the yellowed drop ceiling. They carry some things but not most things. They don’t carry anchovies or anchovy paste, which is how I would usually start a red sauce. They carry whole peeled tomatoes but not any brands I’ve ever seen. They carry fresh parsley but not fresh basil. They do, however, carry pork neck bones and if you have those, you might just end up making the best sauce of your life.

This recipe is adapted with baby back ribs, as most grocery stores do not carry pork neck bones. This is just a tribute, you gotta believe me. And I wish you were there.

SUNDAY SAUCE

2-3lb baby back ribs (or 1lb pork neck bones)
1 small onion diced
4 tbsp butter
10 cloves garlic
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp anchovy paste
2 handfuls of fresh basil divided
½ cup red wine
5 28oz cans whole peeled tomato

Cut your ribs into 2- 4 pieces depending on the size of your pot. Season the ribs with salt up to 4 hours before you begin the sauce. In a Dutch oven, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add in your ribs, working in batches if necessary. Brown the ribs on each side then remove them and from the pot and set them aside. Add butter, onion, and garlic and use a wooden spoon to stir and scrape the fond. Add a little bit of water to soften the onions and deglaze the pot. Once the onions are soft, add the oregano, tomato, and anchovy pastes and basil and stir. Add in red wine and simmer until the wine has cooked down. Add peeled tomatoes using your hands or a potato masher to break them up. Add the ribs back into the pot and place the lid on. Simmer on low for four hours or place in a 300 degree oven for four hours. Remove the bones from the ribs and use a potato masher to break up the pork. Add in any additional protein, such as meatballs or sausage links. Simmer for 30-60 more minutes until the meat is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Add the remaining fresh basil. Serve over pasta or whatever weird stuff you like.

This past weekend I spent some time down the shore with my best friend and I fell head over heels in love with it, and with New Jersey. I saw Lucy Dacus at The Stone Pony and it was her best performance of the five I have seen. I find myself spending a lot of time talking about how much I don’t like summer but this summer snuck up on me. It has weaseled its sweaty way into my heart. Anyway, September is right around the corner and that’s something we can all celebrate. Brothmonger HQ will be closed from August 14 until August 25 because of Little Italy Days and because I am getting a breast reduction. I am looking forward to moving through the world without huge boobs. Soups this week are chicken noodle, hungarian mushroom, special tomato, and kielbasa cabbage.

It feels very good to write a newsletter again. Thank you for being here and all that you do.

I love you
-the BMer

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Hello
Happy July
Welcome to the heat wave
Come see us this week. We have a brand new air conditioning unit in the restaurant and it’s cool and comfortable and a fun and nice place to hang out. Also, come see us because our food is good and we like making it. We are going to be closed on Saturday for America’s birthday. Bring me a popsicle. I’m on summertime slump right now.

Okay thanks, I love you.
-the BMer

Good evening comrades,
Here is the June calendar. We are back from Ireland and BMHQ is officially open for business. The Italian Wedding Soup hoagie is back on the menu for the time being and it will stay on until I don’t want to make it anymore. The Girlfriend is also staying for a while.

The trip was actually unbelievable. It was the longest vacation I have ever had and the farthest from home I have ever been. It was also the first time in my life that I didn’t want to come home. I could have stayed forever if John the dog had been there. Anyway, I can’t recommend Ireland enough. Get over there.

Okay,
See you tomorrow.

Welcome to May. Happy May 8. Here is the May calendar. Please note we will be closed from May 26 to June 3 because Ryan and I are going to Ireland. Isn’t that exciting? Also, this coming Wednesday evening we are having a very cool pop up at BMHQ so pay attention to IG for that announcement.

Ok. I love you

:)

COLD WEATHER FOREVER

My sincerest apologies,
I thought that I had already sent this.

Welcome to December,
I’m happy to be here. The It’s Giving Thanks Wrap will continue to be available throughout this week and perhaps beyond. The Italian Wedding Soup Hoagie could be available in limited supply throughout the month. Don’t forget to pick up your brothmonger gift cards for the soup lovers in your life. The next Soup & Shvitz event with Bad Sauna is December 12. Get your tickets here.

Thank you
I love you
-the BMer

Anyway, see you on Wednesday with a clean as heck kitchen.
Thank you
I love you
-the BMer

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I would just like to take a moment to remind everyone in case they forgot – the left lane on the highway is for passing. It’s not for hanging out. Over the weekend, I took my sister to a music festival. We listened to sets by The Last Dinner Party, Doechii (unbelievable), Clairo, Role Model, etc. We sang our favorite songs at each other. We fought through crowds and talked to strangers and took pictures with three girls wearing matching shirts on which they had bedazzled the word “cunt.” I saw my boyfriend Lucy Dacus for the second time in four days. Merriweather Post Pavillion is an enormous venue offering enough alcohol and chicken tenders to keep twenty thousand gays happy for three days straight. In the morning I woke up and realized I had eaten forty cigarettes. I drove four hours back to Pittsburgh where I immediately got into the bathtub, leaving my bags, blankets, pillows, and purse in the car. When I got out of the tub I felt in my bones that I needed to make myself some pastina.

Pastina is a very good soup and I am very good at making it. It is comforting and filling while being light at the same time. It’s so easy to make with just a few ingredients and a huge payoff. It can be universally applied – great for when you are feeling a little tickle in your throat or when you potentially have partaken in a few too many drugs and or alcohol. Or when you’re just a little kid who loves soup. A few weeks ago Ryan’s cousin Stephanie asked me for my pastina recipe after her three year old son told her that she wasn’t making it as good as I do. I responded to her saying that of course I would give her the recipe but failed to mention that I do not have a pastina recipe. So to give it to Steph, I first must give it to myself and, of course, to you. Xavier, this recipe is for you. I know you can’t read yet but be nice to your mom.

PASTINA
3 carrots (washed & roughly chopped)
1 celery bunch (stalks diced, root discarded)
20 garlic cloves
1 tbsp. chicken bullion
3 - 4 quarts chicken broth
4 eggs
½ cup grated parmesan (plus more for serving)
1 tsp. black pepper (plus more for serving)
1 lb. small pasta like stars or ditalini

In a large pot (5-7 quarts), add all of the vegetables along with the chicken bullion and chicken broth. Simmer for 30 minutes or until all of the vegetables are very soft. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the soft vegetables to a blender and blend them until the mixture resembles a bisque. Alternatively, blend the soup in the pot with an immersion blender. Return the blended vegetables to the broth and bring it back to simmer. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cheese, and pepper. With the soup simmering, whisk in the egg mixture. Salt to taste. In a separate pot of salted water, boil the pasta until it’s al dente. To serve, ladle some pasta into a bowl and pour the soup over it. Top with parmesan cheese, fresh cracked pepper, and nice olive oil. Once the soup is cool, the pasta can be added to the soup to store.

This soup should be golden in color and creamy in texture. I like to use chicken base or bullion in this recipe to give the soup more depth. For the pasta, I recommend stars or ditalini. I do not recommend using acini de pepe (this is only for wedding soup) or orzo (this is for murderers).

Since I last published a recipe so many wonderful things have happened. I have read the entirety of Lord Of The Rings three times this year and I think it’s the best thing ever and I never want to stop reading it on a loop. I also read Pride and Prejudice for the first time this year and man is it good. I watched Lost for the first time and I can confirm that the ending is disappointing but the journey is totally worth it. I love football. I love Pittsburgh. My best friend had a baby who is beautiful and perfect. I love my friends more and more with each passing day and I love my boyfriend and my house and my family and my dog and my job and my restaurant. And I love you. I love you so much. I feel happy and fulfilled and now that fall is beginning, I want to kill everyone less and less (except for when they sit in the left lane).

Make your pastina and enjoy your lazy Sunday even if it’s actually Monday. Even if it’s actually Wednesday. By the end of this week, TS12 will be here and our lives will all be made 12% better by it.

Thank you
I love you
-the BMer

I realize that some of you were looking forward to Butternut Squash and French Onion. We will be going forward this week with the assortment listed above. The soups on the calendar for this week will be available next week. I am sorry about my brain and I beg your forgiveness.

Thank you
I love you
- the BMer

Hello friends,
Here is our soup calendar for the month of August. It’s been one year since I bought the space that would become brothmonger. It’s pretty hard to believe. Thank you for your support along the way and in the future. I am happier now than I have been in my adult life and I owe it all to you. I hope to see you in the shop soon. Over Little Italy Days we will have extended hours and special menus so follow us on instagram to stay updated.

Thank you
I love you
-the BMer

NEXT WEEK JULY 8 - 12
ITALIAN WEDDING (contains wheat & dairy)
CLAM CHOWDER (contains wheat & dairy)
HUNGARIAN MUSHROOM (vegetarian / contains wheat & dairy
WATERMELON GAZPACHO (vegan / gf)
COCONUT CHICKPEA (vegan / gf)

brothmonger will be closed this week on Friday and Saturday July 4 & 5.

If you have any questions or soup requests for the later half of the month, please email me or comment on the newsletter.

ps. punch cards are back

Have a nice holiday
Thank you
I love you
-the BMer

Here is our grab n go soup calendar for the month of May. Please note that the number of soups listed each week has changed from five to four. As summer approaches, I’d like to give myself more room for creative freedom when it comes to the grab n go selections. We will still have lots of soups available, including pastina, throughout the month. Please be sure to check our Instagram story for the daily updates on what is available in the fridge. If you have a special request, please feel free to email or dm me.

Also Happy Mother’s Day and it’s my mom’s birthday month. Love you mom.

Thank you
Love you
-the BMer