Pork ragu
This is a great dish to batch cook and store in the freezer. The sauce is cooked for ages over a low heat until the meat is falling apart. If you don’t have the fresh herbs you could use dried herbes de Provence instead or some Italian dried herbs. You can also serve the sauce with spiralised courgettes for a lower calorie count.
By Healthy Diet
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1kg boned pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 3–4cm dice
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 large sprig of rosemary, left whole
- 1 large sprig of thyme, left whole
- 1 large sprig of sage, left whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 250ml white wine (optional)
- 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
- salt and black pepper
- To serve50g wholewheat pasta
- grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Method
- Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the diced pork shoulder until it’s well browned on all sides. It’s best to do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan or the meat will stew, not brown. Set each batch aside as it’s browned.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a large casserole dish. Add the onion, celery and carrots and fry them gently for several minutes over a fairly low heat until they’ve started to soften. Add the garlic and herbs, then cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the browned pork to the casserole dish, then add a little of the wine, if using, or some water to the frying pan and scrape up any brown bits. Tip this into the casserole, then add the rest of the wine, if using, and turn up the heat. Boil fiercely until the wine has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring the mixture back to the boil, then turn down the heat and cover the casserole dish with a lid. Simmer very gently for at least an hour and a half, or until the pork is starting to shred and is very tender.
- Take the lid off the casserole dish and leave it over a low heat until the sauce has reduced down. Stir occasionally to help shred the meat and help it combine with the rest of the sauce.
- Remove the sprigs of herbs, then serve the sauce with pasta or some grated Parmesan.
Recipe taken from:
Davina McCall
About Healthy Diet
Healthy Diet provides clear and sensible advice from the very best health professionals to make healthy eating easy and affordable for all the family.
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