RIBS ITALIAN-STYLE
These ribs are cooked “low and slow”—for five hours— but they are still juicy when they come off the grill. Stoking the grill with damp bunches of rosemary throughout the long cooking time creates the smoky environment of an outdoor smoker in a regular grill.
- ¼ cup paprika
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 10 bunches rosemary, soaked overnight in water to cover
- 3 large racks baby back ribs (about 2 ½ to 3 pounds per rack)
- 2 cups Mario’s Kick-Ass Barbecue Sauce
Instructions:
- IN A SMALL BOWL, combine the paprika, brown sugar, salt, cumin, and garlic and mix well. Place the racks on a large baking sheet and rub generously on both sides with the spice mixture. Let stand for 2 hours at cool room temperature, or wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- Prepare a gas grill for indirect grilling over low heat. Place a drip pan with an inch or so of water under the cool part of the grill. Pour about ⅔ cup of the barbecue sauce into a small bowl for basting, and pour the rest into a small serving bowl; refrigerate both bowls until about 30 minutes before serving.
- Place the ribs on the cooler part of the grill, lay 1 bunch of wet rosemary on the hot part of the grill, and immediately cover the grill. (If your grill isn’t large enough to arrange the 3 racks in a single layer for indirect cooking, place 2 of them on the grill and put the third one on top of them.) Cook the ribs for 5 hours; the temperature in the grill should be roughly 250°F. Every 30 minutes, place another bunch of wet rosemary on the hot part of the grill and immediately cover the grill to keep it smoky. Thirty minutes before the ribs are done, brush a light coating of barbecue sauce over them, and then repeat every 10 minutes.
- Transfer the racks to a carving board and cut them into individual ribs. Serve with the remaining barbecue sauce.