Tag Archives: Pork

April 21, 2013

A very retro Sweet ‘n Sour Pork

So we’re now in the third month of the Swallow Recipes for Life Challenge and the chosen three ingredients were a potentially tricky Pork, Sweetcorn and Tomato. I have to admit to pondering for quite some time before coming up with my Retro-tastic Sweet & Sour recipe. And my sincere apologies now for the absence of any authenticity, and if you’re likely to be offended please look no further!. But I can nevertheless assure you it’s a pretty tasty dinner.

Admittedly not a dish I’m usually a big fan of, and I’m always a bit sniffy of the take-away version, but this homemade recipe was a bit of a hit in the Chez Foti household. The kids happily chowed down and successfully consumed a healthily pleasing quota of veggies, but then anything inclusive of fruit and/or sweetcorn and served with rice is usually onto a winner with them. I really should confess to very much enjoying it myself too, way more than I thought I would, though I did perk mine up somewhat with an additional (very) hot chili. And it proved a delightful and worthy use of the very last of my Homemade Tomato Ketchup.

Just in case you missed the earlier challenges, the lovely Vanesther of Bangers and Mash Chat has tasked fellow bloggers to come up with wholesome, delicious and easy-to-cook recipes using three key ingredients, that members of the Swallow cookery club can cook themselves. Swallow is a Somerset based charity that help adults with learning disabilities to lead more independent lives, including the running of cookery courses and the preparation of meals for themselves.

Sweet & Sour Pork

Great for: Toddlers & Young Children, Bigger Kids, Tomato Ketchup Fans, Family Dinners, Grown Ups, Mid-Week Suppers, Retro Foodies

Enough for a Family of 4:

For the Sauce:

a 227g tin of Pineapple Slices in Natural Juice, drained and juice retained, slices cut into chunks

a level tablespoon of Cornflour

2 tablespoons of Tomato Ketchup, Homemade or bought

2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons of Chinese Rice Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar

a dessertspoon of Honey

For the Stir Fry:

2 tablespoons of Groundnut or Sunflower Oil

300g of lean Pork loin or fillet, cut into fine inch long strips

a small Onion, diced

a Carrot, sliced into very fine inch long strips

a Red Pepper, large dice

a clove of Garlic, finely sliced

a thumb sized piece of Ginger, grated or finely chopped

0 – 2 Red Chillies, finely sliced (depending on your heat tolerance)

a Courgette, sliced into inch long strips

a 150g tin of Sweetcorn (or you could use a handful of Baby Sweetcorn)

Start with prepping your sauce. Mix the cornflour with all the retained pineapple juice, then stir in each of the other ingredients. Set aside.

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large sauce pan to a very high temperature. Carefully add the pork to the hot fat and cook for a two or three minutes, moving the pork around regularly so it cooks on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Into the hot pan add a further tablespoon of oil and carefully add the onion, carrot, red pepper, garlic, ginger and chillies (if using). Cook for three minutes on a very high heat, continuously moving everything around. If the veggies are sticking to the pan throw in a splash of water. Stir in the courgette and continue to c0ok for a further three minutes.

Finally stir in the set aside pork strips, pineapple chunks, sweetcorn and the sauce. Stirring regularly allow to bubble away for a few minutes and take off the heat when you have your desired state of veggie tenderness. I personally prefer a healthy crunch to mine but the kids favour their’s a little on the softer side. So I settle for somewhere in the middle.

Chow down with noodles or steamed rice. Maybe a cheeky prawn cracker or three on the side.

You might also like:

Homemade Tomato Ketchup

Noodles with Pork & Veggies

20 Comments | tags: Carrots, Chinese, Courgette, Peppers, Pork, Recipes for Life, Rice, Stir Fry, Sweetcorn, Tomato Sauce, Veggies | posted in Bigger Kids, Family Dinners, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Mid-Week Suppers, Toddlers & Pre-schoolers

February 15, 2013

A guest post by Anneli from Delicieux – Slow Cooked Blue Cheese Pulled Pork with a Cider and Apple Sauce

By annelifaiers

Comfort Food Makes You Feel Good!

After the fun we had on our last blog challenge (Traditional French Christmas), Louisa and I decided to embark upon round two! We settled on the theme of ‘Comfort Food’ this time as it seemed fitting for this time of year and the kind of food we have been wanting to eat.

Comfort food is a great phrase. It can mean many things to many people. Ultimately, for me it represents food that makes me feel snuggly and happy. Food I like to eat in front of the TV whilst cosy on my sofa. It’s not fancy or frilly, it’s hearty and honest and leaves you feeling satisfied and content.

I have been cooking a lot in my Slow Cooker this year, lots of delicious stews and curries. Meat cooked in the slow cooker becomes incredibly soft and tender which I find very comforting. I also appreciate that it does not take much effort, I love having popped dinner on in the morning and just forgetting about it until the evening. Fantastic food, fuss free, that makes me very happy indeed!

The dish I have decided to share with you was one that I made on a Sunday (officially the best day for comfort food!) whilst I was actually not feeling particularly well. I was wearing my comfy trousers and had spent a fair chunk of the day curled up on the sofa under a blanket snuggling with my kids. The fire was roaring whilst outside the wind was blowing and it had been raining all day. I just about managed to throw a few things into the slow cooker that morning so I had a minimal amount of work to do to get dinner onto a plate. Oh yes, this was a day when comfort food was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Slow Cooked Blue Cheese Pulled Pork with Cider & Apple Sauce served with soft buttery mash and garlicky courgettes was my finished dish and my oh my, it was a heavenly combination. I think mashed potatoes might actually be compulsory with all comfort food, not much can beat them when served with a lovely hot sauce or gravy.

For this dish, pork shoulder is cooked in the slow cooker covered with cider on a bed of apple and onion for 8 hours, or even longer if you like. This creates such tender pork that you can take a fork to it and just pull it apart into juicy strands, super succulent and delicious. The sauce is simplicity itself, the apple and onions are just blitzed into the cider with a hand held blender and then boiled to reduce a little. Meanwhile, some roquefort cheese is crumbled over the pork and melted under the grill before serving with that wonderful mashed potato and lashings of hot cidery sauce. This takes comfort food to a whole new level of contentedness!

So if you are feeling under the weather or out of sorts, then I have the remedy for you. Just follow these instructions and you will be on the road to recovery in no time…

Slow Cooked Blue Cheese Pulled Pork with Cider & Apple Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 small shoulder of pork around 1kg
1 onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
500-600ml of cider
150g Roquefort cheese
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp creme fraiche

Method:

Place your chopped onion and apple in the bottom of your slow cooker. Cut any string off from your pork shoulder and lay it on top of the onion and apple.

Pour over enough cider to go half way up your pork shoulder. Don’t be mean, the more cider, the more moist!
Put your slow cooker on to high and cook for 8 hours or low and cook for 12 hours.
Once cooked, remove the pork and take two forks and ‘pull’ the pork apart, tearing it into shreds. Place on a baking tray and crumble your Roquefort all over liberally. Put under the grill for 5 minutes or until all your cheese has melted over the pork

Whilst your pork is under the grill, pour the remaining cider, apple and onion into another saucepan and using a handheld blender, blitz until smooth. Then spoon a little of the sauce in to a small bowl and add your corn flour and mix to combine.
Meanwhile, bring the sauce to a simmer then stir in the cornflour mixture to help thicken. Let the sauce bubble away and reduce until you are happy with the consistency. You may find you have a lot of sauce…just freeze what you do not use for the next time you have pork. Just before serving, stir in a tablespoon of creme fraiche

Finally serve the pork with some creamy mash and vegetables and pour the cider sauce all over the pulled pork and bubbling blue cheese

And you will surely be comforted!

If you enjoyed this post then be sure to hop over to check out Louisa’s take on comfort food on www.delicieux.eu

Thanks for having me over again Louisa. Always a pleasure and I look forward to ‘Round Three’!

Louisa: I’m entering this gorgeous guest blog to a couple of challenges for Anneli. Firstly, being a slow cooker wonder recipe, to Credit Crunch Munch, an event co-hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and this month by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. And secondly, being a made from scratch lovliness, to Javelin Warrior’s Made with Love Mondays.

13 Comments | tags: Apples, Blue Cheese, Cider, Credit Crunch Munch, Delicieux, French, Guest Post, Made with Love Mondays, Mash, Pork, Roquefort, Slow Cooker, Slow Cooking | posted in Dinner Party, Family Dinners, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Weekend Slowies, Winter Warmers

July 30, 2012

70s Flashback Stuffed Marrow

By Eat Your Veg

‘Tis another courgettie recipe today I’m afraid, though this time of the overgrown kind. One somehow went unnoticed and I found myself happening upon a marrow last week. Loving a bit of 70s foodie nostalgia I thought I’d give stuffing it a go. Interestingly it was way tastier than my less-than-fond childhood memories of waterlogged flavour-lacking marrow dinners. This was a meal I would gladly leave future courgettes to grow into gargantuan proportions for, and indeed I am.

It’s also a very simple to put together dish, made in minutes, albeit taking upwards of an hour to bake in the oven.

I’m entering this blog into Lavender & Lovage’s July Herbs on Saturday Challenge, this month hosted by Vanesther at Bangers & Mash Chat.

My homegrown sage

For 2 to 3 big people or a family of four:

a 750 to 1000g marrow or overgrown courgette

2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus a little extra for brushing

a small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

a heaped desertspoon of chopped fresh sage leaves

a small eating apple, skin peeled and core removed, grated

300g of pork mince

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4.

Slice the marrow or courgette in half lengthways, scoop out all the loose flesh and seeds from the middles to make two boats. Cut up any fleshy parts and set aside, discard the seeds (I actually kept mine to sow next year). Brush the two halves with a little olive oil and place snugly in an appropriately sized ovenproof dish.

Heat the olive oil in a deep side frying pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until a little softened. Stir in the chopped garlic and sage and cook for a minute longer. Stir in the grated apple quickly followed by the pork mince, set aside diced courgette flesh and a generous pinch or two of salt and pepper. Give everything a thorough stir and take off the heat.

Spoon all the filling into the marrow halves. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour (depending on the size of the marrow). Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes.

Great served with a simple green salad and plenty of good quality bread to mop up the lovely juices.

Here’s some other courgettie recipes you might like to try, Courgette & Sausage Carbonara, Courgette, Spinach & Pesto Risotto, King Prawn, Courgette & Spinach Thai Green Curry, Courgette, Feta & Basil Bruschetta.

5 Comments | tags: 70s, Apple, Courgette, Marrow, Pork, Sage | posted in Family Dinners, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Mid-Week Suppers

July 18, 2012

Barbecue Chops

By Eat Your Veg

Older Kids (that like a bit of spice!), Grown Ups

Back on with the Chez Foti barbie season here’s a dead simple fool proof recipe for spicy marinaded pork chops, and one I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to exactly how many times I’ve used over the last two summers!.

I love marinading as it usually means most of the effort’s made in advance and these are no exception, in fact all the work’s done in advance bar the actual barbecuing. Allow at least a couple of hours for flavours to mingle, preferably four or five. I like to use rosemary in the marinade as it’s works so well with garlic and chilli, but I don’t always include it. Kind of depends on how lazy I am at the time as the rosemary grows towards the bottom of our drive!.

For four people:

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

a heaped teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika

a teaspoon of hot chilli powder

a desertspoon of runny honey

3 tablespoons of olive oil

a teaspoon of coarsely ground or crushed black pepper

½ a teaspoon of Malden sea salt, or similar

a large sprig or two of fresh rosemary, leaves removed and roughly chopped (optional)

4 pork chops

Simply mix all the marinade ingredients together (which is everything listed above bar the chops!) in a large non-metalic bowl. Plonk in the chops and get down and dirty thoroughly rubbing the marinade into the meat with your hands.

Cover and leave to rest and mingle in the fridge for 2 to 5 hours. I like to give everything a little stir half way through the marinade time. Remove from the fridge 20 minutes or so before cooking time.

Cook the chops over hot coals or timbers (we always cook over oak as we have so much of it here and happens to give off a particularly lovely flavour) for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Timing depending on how thick your chops are and how hot your bbq is. Pork should be fully cooked through (no pinkie bits) and the juices running clear from the middle.

I like to serve my porkie chops with a selection of salads and veggie kebabs. More barbecue recipes and sides coming soon, but for now have you seen my Greek Stylie Pork & Veggie Kebabs or Lou’s Blue Cheese Barbecue Burgers?

Marinading Away

6 Comments | tags: Barbecue, Pork, Rosemary | posted in Grown Up Dinners, Mains

June 9, 2012

Noodles with Pork & Veggies

By Eat Your Veg

Toddler & Young Children, Family Dinners, Only Grown Ups

Another firm Chez Foti family favourite! Both kids love their noodles, or rather ‘wriggly worms’ in our house, as much as we do. A very quick, easy and satisfying dinner that injects a fair amount of lovely veggies into little tums, and you can’t say much fairer than that!. In truth I’ve steered clear of blogging Chinese style recipes for their lack of authenticity, but have decided to occasionally blog my Western stylie family versions as they’re so much enjoyed at Chez Foti. Purests, you’ve been warned!

You really can use an almighty array of veggies in stir fries, use whatever’s in season or you happen to have in. Before growing my own I tended to make Chinese style food with the usual carrots, peppers, broccoli florets, peas, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms etc. Once I had my own ready supply of veggies in the garden I soon realised that you really can use almost any veggies in Chinese cookery, or Indian or Thai. As well as the usual suspects above I’ve very successfully cooked with swiss chard, spinach, aubergines, courgettes, asparagus, french and other green beans, broad beans, cauliflower, squash & pumpkin, kale, celery, leeks, sprouts, sweet potatoes, parsnips, beetroot, swede…..I think you’re getting the idea. Vary the cooking time and size of dice accordingly. Anything woody and hard, like a carrot, parsnip or swede should be cut a little finer than other veggies and/or cooked for a little longer. Leafier veggies like spinach, chard leaves or pak choi cook down very quickly and should be added towards the end of the cooking time.

So tonights noodles were made with handfuls of my ‘veg of the month’ Swiss Chard, a red pepper and a courgette. A couple of my swiss chard plants from last year are back in full glory now (though about to go to seed) and producing an abundance of wonderful leaves. I also planted a whole new row a few weeks ago and these babies are almost ready for the eating too. Chard is a wonderful veg to grow, minimum effort for maximum and very quick return, and the plants can last up to a staggering eighteen months. It’s such a versatile veg too, great in an assortment of Asian curries and stir fries, stews, casseroles and pasta dishes.

You can happily swap the pork for beef, chicken or prawns, or omit altogether for a veggie dinner. My kids like a touch of chilli in their food, but leave out if you or yours don’t. If making for adults only you might want to increase the amount of chilli, fish, oyster and soy sauce, I try to keep my salt levels as low as possible when cooking for kids.

Enough for four:

2 tablespoons of sunflower or groundnut oil

a heaped tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

a dried birds eye chilli, finely chopped, or a pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)

a medium onion, diced

a red pepper, cut into thin strips (about an inch long)

a courgette, cut into thin strips (about an inch long)

200g of swiss chard leaves and stalks, stalks removed and both leaves and stalks shredded separately

300g of pork loin or fillet, cut into thin strips (about an inch long, the same as the veggies)

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

200g of medium egg noodles, cooked to packet instructions and cooled

a teaspoon of fish sauce

2 dessertspoons of dark soy sauce

2 heaped tablespoons of oyster sauce

100ml of hot chicken stock

Heat the oil on a hot heat, in a large high sided frying pan or preferably a wok. Throw in the ginger, chilli, onion and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring briskly and almost continuously.

Add the courgette, pork strips, shredded chard stems and garlic. Stir regularly and cook on a high heat until the veggies are almost tender. This should be about 4 to 5 minutes. If the pan is very dry add a splash of water rather than more oil.

Stir in the shredded chard leaves, cooked noodles, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and hot stock. Keep on the heat until the chard has wilted and the noodles are piping hot. Have a taste and add a little more oyster and soy sauce if you think it needs it, though it’s not advisable to add any more if cooking for little children.

How about trying some of our other Chez Foti family favourite dinners, Chicken & Veggie Fried Rice, Chicken & Apricot Tagine, Sausage & Courgette Carbonara or Pasta & Meatballs.

Leave a comment | tags: Chinese, Courgette, Noodles, Peppers, Pork, Veggies | posted in Family Dinners, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Mid-Week Suppers, Toddlers & Pre-schoolers

June 7, 2012

Greek Stylie Pork & Veggie Kebabs

By Eat Your Veg

‘Tis barbie season finally and we’ve been making the most of it this week, partly because of the great weather and partly because we’ve had our seventeen year old nephew James staying with us. I’m not terribly sure how we’re going to cope without his super-nannying skills when he leaves this afternoon (both with kids and dogs!). I’ve mainly been doing a few of my usuals on the barbie, various veggie and meat kebabs, my fat b*****d blue cheese stuffed burgers, chilli pork chops etc, all recipes that I’ll be blogging shortly plus a few exciting newbies on the block.

For today it’s my Greek Stylie Pork and Veggie Kebabs with fresh oregano. I’ve no idea how many times I must have made these last summer. At least twenty times I’m reckoning, and later in the summer using peppers, aubergines, courgettes and onions fresh out of the garden. I can’t wait to be able to do that again, rock on summer! They tend to be more of a side dish rather than a main event for me, but served with hummus and/or tzatziki, a greek salad and pitta bread they make a very substantial main. Great also with chicken instead of pork or without any meat at all (just up the quantity and variety of veggies).

The meat and veggies are best left to marinade for a good few hours, so try to make in advance if you can. And if you’re short on time, as I always am, it’s particularly handy to get all the hard work done in advance anyway, then all you have to do is a bit of skewering up just before barbecuing.

As I grow oregano in abundance I love to use it as generously as possible. It’s the chief flavouring in these kebabs, but if you don’t have a source of fresh oregano you can replace with three teaspoons of dried. I’m entering this post to the Herbs on Saturday blogging challenge held by the lovely Karen at one of my favourite blogs, Lavender & Lovage. I’ve been meaning to take part for quite a while now, but my organisational skills are not the best at times! Have a look at her blog as there’s sure to be plenty of herby and other delights on offer.

Oregano growing in my garden

If you do lots of barbecues I’d think about investing in some metal skewers, they’re so much better than the flimsy easily burnable throw away ones. My Mum and Dad gave me a set years ago that they’d brought back from Istanbul. To be honest they sat at the back of a drawer unused for some time before I got into barbecuing recently, and now they’re used countless times every summer.

Enough for six to eight kebabs:

a medium onion, white or red

a large pepper (any colour)

½ an aubergine or a small courgette or both!

the juice of a lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

a teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper

a generous pinch of salt

a handful of fresh oregano sprigs, leaves removed and roughly chopped or 3 teaspoons of dried oregano

350g of pork loin pieces

Start with preparing your meat and veggies. They should all be cut to a similar size so everything cooks fairly evenly. Half the onions, then half again then again into eighths. Then roughly separate the layers. Cut the aubergine in quarters lengthways then slice into pieces about 6/7mm thick. If using courgette slice into 6/7mm thick rounds. Cut the pepper to a similar size. Finally dice the pork the same size as the veggies.

Now put together the marinade ingredients in a large non-metalic bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt & black pepper and oregano leaves.

Tip the pork and veggies into the marinade and give everything a thorough stir. I use my hands. Cover with cling film and leave to marinade away in the fridge for a few hours.

Just before barbecuing, remove from the fridge and skewer up, alternating the veggies, onions and pork. Brush any remaining marinade over the kebabs.

Cook on a hot barbecue, turning every few minutes until they’re evenly browned on all sides and the pork and veggies are thoroughly cooked through.

Great served hot with pitta breads, hummus, tzatziki and a large greek salad on the side (again made with plenty of lemon juice and fresh oregano) or as a side dish to the rest of the barbecue. Any leftovers are fab eaten cold in a pitta sandwich.

5 Comments | tags: Aubergine, BBQ, Lemon, Onions, Oregano, Peppers, Pork, Veggies | posted in Family Dinners, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Veggie Sides

January 27, 2012

Pasta & Meatballs!

By Eat Your Veg

Everyone loves meatballs don’t they, veggies aside obviously? I really should make these more often as they’re such a savoured treat in our house and always put a smile on the dinner table faces. A perfect weekend family dinner. We had these last Saturday and they went down a storm with all of us, even Jacques managed to munch his way through THREE WHOLE meatballs (and he’s only 21 months old!). Totally delish.

The recipe I’ve always used for Meatballs is actually based on Nigella’s (from her Nigella Bites book) and to be honest you can’t really fault it! Wonderful half pork, half beef ever so slightly cheesy meatballs. All cooked and served in a lovely tomato sauce on a bed of pasta. Nigella makes her sauce with tomato passata, but as I rarely have it in I tend to make my own from a can of chopped tomatoes and a little tomato puree. I also like to add the merest touch of chilli to my tomato sauce, but feel free to omit if you don’t like the heat.

She also makes her own tagliatelle in the recipe. In my pre-children days I often used to make my own pasta, but I simply don’t have the same luxury of time these days and tend to use dried as a perfectly good substitute. But if you do have a little more time than me GO FOR IT, homemade pasta is unbeatable, and actually pretty simple when you’ve made it a few times.

I haven’t specified any weight for the dried pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle or linguine all work particularly well) as I find pasta is such a variant and my family have particularly enormous appetites for it!. Just cook the same amount you would normally for yourselves for a bolognese or similar.

Makes about 14 small meatballs, and enough for a family of Four:

200g of good quality pork mince

200g of good quality beef mince

2 tbsps finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano

1 egg

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 heaped tsp of dried oregano

2 heaped tbsps of breadcrumbs

salt & pepper

For the Tomato Sauce:

olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp of dried oregano

the merest pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)

a pinch of sugar

1 desert spoon of tomato puree

1 400g can of chopped tomatoes

200ml of water

100ml full fat milk

salt & pepper

and Pasta of your choice, fresh or dried spaghetti, tagliatelle or linguine

Start with making your meatballs. Simply add all the meatball ingredients to a large bowl and mix very thoroughly, the best way to do this is by hand squidging the mix through your hands and fingers (and if feels soooo lush!). Once well combined shape into smallish balls, by taking a little of the mixture and rolling it around in your hands a little. They should each be a smidgen bigger than a walnut. Aim for about 14 balls. Once made place on a layer of cling film on top of a plate or tray. Cover with another layer of cling film and place in the fridge until ready to cook.

Now for the sauce. In a large wide saucepan or casserole dish (that you have a lid for) add a generous glug of olive oil and heat. Add the diced onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes on a gentle heat, stirring regularly. Now add the chilli (if using) and oregano and cook for a moment or two more. Then add a pinch of sugar, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Take off the heat and whiz the sauce up, preferably with a stick blender straight into the saucepan. You could obviously use a food processor too but that creates too much washing up for me!. Taste the sauce and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to suit. Now add the milk and stir well.

Place the sauce back on the heat and bring to a simmer again. Now it’s time to add the meatballs. Carefully drop them individually into the sauce. Don’t stir them at all at this point, you must wait until the meatballs have turned from pink to brown as you don’t want them to break up.

Cook for 20 minutes with the lid partially covering the pan. Towards the end of this time you can stir the meatballs a little to turn them over.

Whilst they’re cooking cook your pasta to packet instructions.

Have a final taste check of the sauce and serve the meatballs and sauce immediately on a bed of pasta with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan.

3 Comments | tags: Beef, Breadcrumbs, Garlic, Italian, Parmesan, Pasta, Pork, Tomato | posted in Family Dinners, Mains, Pasta, Toddlers & Pre-schoolers

October 25, 2011

Pork, Pumpkin & Pepper Stew

By Eat Your Veg

A gentle warming stew that’s perfect for these cooler Autumnal evenings. And like most stews, so very very easy to put together. And another great way to use up yet more pumpkin! A word of warning on the pumpkin though. Quite often when you buy the very big pumpkins in the UK for Halloween they can be very tasteless for cooking with, no matter how much roasting and flavouring you add they’ll never be great. If you do have a pumpkin to use try roasting a little of it in the oven before using, just to have a taste check. You could always substitute Butternut squash as a more reliable tasty alternative.

To add a bit of extra spark I tend to add a touch of chilli, but really it’s not necessary

Enough for four:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 small peppers or 1 very large one, preferably red, roughly chopped into big chunks
1/2 red chilli or good pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
600g pumpkin, cut into 2cm chunks
a small apple, peeled cored and chopped into fairly small pieces
500g pork (lean and boneless), cut into 2cm chunks
2 bay leaves
1½ tbsp fresh chopped sage leaves, or 2 tsp of dried sage
1½ tbsp tomato puree
250ml dry cider
450ml chicken stock
salt and pepper

In a large saucepan or casserole dish place the olive oil and onion, cook for a few minutes until the onion has softened a little. Then add the peppers, chilli (if using), pumpkin, apple and pork. Stir fairly regularly so nothing catches and burns, cook for about 10 minutes. Add the bay leaves, sage and tomato puree and cook for another moment or two before adding the cider. Allow the cider to cook down for about 5 minutes or so before adding the stock.

Cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pork and vegetables are all soft and very tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with plenty of mash, and maybe a nice steamed green vegetable on the side.