Slow Cooker Pork Fennel Ragu Recipes

SLOW COOKER PORK & FENNEL RAGU

Steps:

• Place the mince, onion, garlic, chilli, fennel, and passata into the slow cooker.
• Turn the slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours.
• When ready to eat cook the spaghetti as per the packet instructions.
• Serve the Ragu sauce on a bed of spaghetti and topped with your chosen cheese and a fresh side salad.

SLOW-COOKER PORK RAGU

Steps:

• Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
• In 5-quart Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp. With slotted spoon, remove bacon to small bowl.
• Season pork with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Add half of the pork to bacon drippings in Dutch oven, and cook 4 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned. With slotted spoon, remove pork from Dutch oven to slow cooker. Repeat with remaining pork.
• Add onions, carrots, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to Dutch oven; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Stir in garlic and oregano; cook 30 seconds. Add broth; heat to simmering, stirring to remove brown bits on bottom. Transfer mixture to slow cooker with pork. Stir in tomatoes and bacon.
• Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until pork is tender and easily falls apart. Before serving, shred pork with two forks. Serve over cooked pasta. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh herbs.

BRAISED PORK WITH FENNEL (CROCK POT)

Steps:

• Slice off root end of fennel and discard. Slice bulb and some of the green stems and leaves. Save some of the feathery leaves for garnish.
• In a large, heavy skillet, sear the pork in the oil over medium-high heat until it's brown all over, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pork to the crock pot.
• Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet and reduce the heat to medium-low.
• Sauté the onion and fennel until just a little golden. Transfer them to the crock pot.
• In a bowl, mix together the vinegar and Splenda. Pour the mixture over the pork. Add the tomatoes.
• In a bowl, mix together the broth and bouillon until the bouillon dissolves. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and red pepper. Pour this over the pork.
• Cover the crock pot, and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
• Remove the pork from the crock pot and place it on a serving platter. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the vegetables and pile them around the pork. Cover the platter with foil and put it in a warm place.
• Turn crock pot to high and stir cornstarch mixture into liquid and heat until thickened slightly.
• Chop some of the fennel leaves and sprinkle over roast and veggies. Slice meat and serve with sauce.

PORK AND FENNEL RAGU

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium high heat. Add onion, fennel and garlic, cook for 5 minutes.
• Add fennel seeds and next 7 ingredients (through to pork), stirring to combine, saute 3 minutes.
• Add tomato and broth, bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot pasta.

SLOW COOKER PORK PUTTANESCA RAGù

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim and discard the large hunks of fat from the pork shoulder then cut the meat into 4 even pieces. Season the pork generously on all sides with salt. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in two batches if necessary, brown the pork on two sides, about 5 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the pork to a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker.
• Add the garlic and anchovies to the skillet, along with more oil if needed, and cook over medium, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until fragrant and slightly darkened in color, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the olives, capers, vinegar, red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. (Do not add more salt at this point because anchovies, olives and capers can be quite salty.) Scrape the mixture into the slow cooker with the pork and stir until combined.
• Cover the slow cooker and cook on low until the pork is fork-tender and the sauce deepens in color, about 10 hours.
• Using two forks, coarsely shred the pork. Pour the can of tomatoes and juices into the slow cooker, crushing the tomatoes with your hands, if using whole. Add the parsley and lemon juice. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes or salt if necessary.
• Serve the ragù over polenta or sturdy pasta, like rigatoni or pappardelle, topped with Parmesan to taste. (If serving the ragù with pasta, loosen the ragù with a bit of pasta cooking water, adding it spoonful by spoonful, to help the sauce coat the pasta.)