This is a straight-up stew with familiar “spaghetti sauce” seasonings. Perhaps it’s a better recipe for winter. But I make it with fresh garden herbs and fresh tomatoes when I have them, so it’s a summer dish too. If the weather is hot, I prepare the ingredients early Sunday morning and then let it finish simmering and tenderizing in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon, cut into ½-inch dice
- 2 to 3 pounds trimmed boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 onion, cut into ½-inch dice (about 1 cup)
- 1 carrot, cut into ½-inch dice (about 1 cup)
- ½ celery rib, cut into ½-inch dice (about ½ cup)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 3 or 4 sage leaves
- 1 (4-inch) rosemary sprig
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce or 3 to 4 fresh peeled tomatoes, crushed
Instructions
Heat a wide, heavy, deep pot over medium heat and add bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a wide plate.
As the bacon cooks, cut up the pork and season with salt. When you’ve removed the bacon, add enough pork to the pan so that the cubes have room around them and the meat is in 1 layer. Turn heat to medium-high and brown the cubes all over. Remove to the bacon plate and add more pork to the pot as room allows.
Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine, scraping up residue stuck to the pan, and bring to a boil. Return the bacon and pork shoulder to the pan, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until most of the wine evaporates. Add herbs, stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 90 minutes, or until meat is fork tender. (You can also cook it for 6 hours or so in a slow cooker.)
Serve over or with pasta of choice and grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Freezes well.
