Pork belly and chorizo ragout
This Spanish style casserole is rich and spicy although not hot. The combination of melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, chorizo, tomatoes, paprika and red peppers gets a big seal of approval from my husband who has put it on the list of meals he wants again and again.
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
- 750gm pork belly with the rind removed, cubed
- 150gm chorizo, 3mm slices
- Olive oil
- 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 375gm fresh tomatoes (skinned and roughly chopped) or a 400gm can of peeled or crushed tomatoes in juice
- 1 cup well flavoured stock (vegetable, duck or chicken are all fine)
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 red capsicums, cored and deseeded then cut into fine strips
- 1/4 cup of red wine (optional)
- Parsley for garnish
Method
- Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a heavy based lidded frying pan.
- Add the pork and fry over a high heat until lightly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- Top up the oil a little if needed and add the onion and garlic, frying until soft and light gold.
- Sprinkle the paprika over the top and cook, stirring for another 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is thick.
- Add the stock, bay leaves and season. Bring to the boil.
- Add the pork back in and simmer, covered, for an hour or until tender. Add more stock during this period if needed (you don't want it drying out).
- While this is cooking fry the chorizo in another pan in a tablespoon of oil until crisp and golden brown. Remove from pan.
- Add the capsicum to the pan and cook over a low heat until just soft. Remove.
- Once the pork is tender add the capsicum, chorizo red wine (if using) and simmer 15 more minutes or until the pork is really tender.
- Discard the bay leaves, check the seasonings and serve hot with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.