Tuscan Style Braised Pork Recipes

TUSCAN BRAISED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Wipe the chops with a damp paper towel and dry them.
• Brown the chops in 1/4 cup of the oil at medium/high heat in a large skillet.
• Remove the chops and set aside.
• Add the vegetables and the remaining 1/4 cup of oil to the pan.
• Caramelize the vegetables at medium heat (this is the sofrito).
• Return the chops to the pan and spoon some of the sofrito over them.
• Add the seasonings and wine.
• Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
• Add a little water from time to time to prevent the pan from boiling dry.
• Add the tomato sauce.
• Cook covered 10 more minutes.
• Remove the chops and strain the sauce.
• Drizzle some sauce over the chops.
• Dress pasta of your choice with the remaining sauce.

TUSCAN STYLE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Cut roast into 2" chunks, removing excess fat.
• Process juniper berries, cloves, peppercorns, dried garlic and sea salt in spice grinder until coarse mixture results.
• Put meat into large plastic container and rub generously with several tablespoons of spice mixture. (Reserve remaining spices.) Add gin and olive oil and thoroughly mix together. Seal container and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours. Turn container a few times during marination process. You can marinate for up to three days if you can wait that long!
• Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Brown meat pieces in batches on stove top over medium high heat in a large oven safe covered pot or dutch oven. Place browned meat back into pot and add chicken broth, tomato sauce, red wine vinegar and enough water to cover meat.
• Cover and transfer pot to oven. Braise meat for 3-4 hours or until meat is very tender. Taste sauce and season with reserved spices if desired. Serve over pasta or mashed potatoes.

SUCCULENT BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

MILK-BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper. In a 4-quart heavy kettle heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown pork on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Carefully add milk and cook pork, covered, at a bare simmer 2 hours. Continue to cook pork, partially covered, at a bare simmer until very tender, about 1 hour. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes. Season cooking liquid generously with salt and pepper and boil until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Thinly slice pork and transfer to a platter. Skim fat from cooking liquid and spoon liquid over pork.

ITALIAN BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Rinse and dry pork roast. Season all sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add roast to the hot skillet; turn and sear until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer roast to a large lidded baking dish, leaving pan drippings in the skillet.
• Add carrots, onion, shallot, and garlic to the hot skillet and reduce heat to medium. Saute in the pan drippings until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes; do not overcook.
• Pour red wine, beef broth, and tomato puree over the roast in the baking dish. Add sauteed vegetables, parsley, and thyme.
• Cover and bake in the preheated oven until meat pulls apart easily, 2 to 3 hours.

BRAISED PORK RAGU

Steps:

• Season pork with the rosemary, thyme, pepper, and salt. Heat oil in a large large Dutch over over medium-high heat. Sear pork in the hot oil until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Stir onion and carrot into pot; cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour in the wine; stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomatoes and stock. Bring to a simmer; cook until meat is very tender and the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.

ITALIAN BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season pork with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, celery, and fennel seeds to pan; cook until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker along with tomatoes. Cover and cook on high until pork is very tender, 4 hours (or 8 hours on low).
• Transfer pork to a cutting board. With 2 forks, shred meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Skim fat off sauce and discard. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and stir to combine. (To store: Cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days.) Serve over couscous.

TUSCAN PORK ROAST

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the garlic, rosemary, oil and salt; cover and process until mixture becomes a paste. Rub over the roast; cover and let stand for 30 minutes. , Place roast fat side up on a greased baking rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until a thermometer reads 145°. Let meat stand for 10 minutes before slicing.