Pork with white beans and tomatoes

Tam West

This is a big hearty gratinated stew perfect for cold weather. It is interesting how recipes evolve. This one is based on a recipe for Carne a la Andaluza (or meat — usually pork — cooked in the Andalusian manner). I ate at the Escuela de Hosteleria de Cordoba, or the hotel school in Cordoba, many years ago on a trip to Spain. They gave me the recipe in Spanish which I translated. I first published it as a stew in 2008. Here I have omitted the original black pudding, upped the quantity of pork, added white beans, given it a crumb top and baked it, a bit like a French cassoulet.

Ingredients

4 Tbsp	Extra virgin olive oil
800 g	Pork shoulder, diced 3cm, or use supermarket pork pieces (Main)
3	Garlic cloves, finely chopped
2	Onions, chopped
2	Celery stalks, thinly sliced
2	Carrots, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp	Sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp	Salt
½ tsp	Freshly ground black pepper
2	Red capsicums, roasted, cored, seeded, peeled and sliced 2cm
100 ml	Red wine
2 cans	Tomatoes, crushed, in juice, 400g each (Main)
500 ml	Beef stock, well-flavoured
250 ml	Water
2 cans	Cannellini beans, 400g each, drained (Main)
1 ½ cups	Panko breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp	Butter, melted
2 Tbsp	Chopped parsley

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 200C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan and brown the pork. Remove and reserve. Add the garlic, onions, celery and carrot to the pan and fry gently over moderate heat for about 10 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the pork back to the pan and turn the heat up. Add the paprika, salt, pepper and capsicum, mix well and then add the wine. Mix well then add the tomatoes, stock, water and beans. Mix well and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the pork is tender.
3. Taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and pour into a wide ovenproof dish.
4. Put the breadcrumbs into a bowl and add the butter. Season and mix well so there are no lumps. Sprinkle this mix evenly over the pork. Place in the oven for 15 minutes or until everything is bubbling and well browned.
5. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

More affordable pork recipes from Ray

• Pork sausages with roasted carrots and lentils
• Pork ribs with rice and pickles