Pork

(All Recipes have Gluten-Free Options)

Rigatoni with Pork Shoulder Ragu & Creamy Goat Cheese (Serves 6-8)

This recipe is from Athena Caldrone’s ‘Cook Beautiful’ cookbook. At first, I was sceptical of this book as the author is first and foremost an Instagram ‘lifestyle influencer’ rather than a chef, however, I’ve been very impressed with its recipes and this ragu has become a firm favourite. Often, slow-cooked Ragu’s can be very heavy but this one is surprisingly light plus the creamy goat cheese topping gives it a very modern edge. From the depths of the winter to a sunny summer’s day this is a recipe you’ll make time and time again!

*Do try to get tinned ‘San Marzano’ tomatoes, they are more expensive but so much tastier – I’m a convert! (If you can only get whole tomatoes simply cut them up in the tin with a pair of kitchen scissors).

1.8kg boneless pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed, cut into 5cm pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs of fresh sage

240ml dry white wine

1.2 litres chicken stock (just enough to cover the meat)

55g unsalted butter

2 teaspoons fennel seeds, toasted in a dry frying pan and lightly crushed

2 carrots, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

240ml whole milk

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes – San Marzano if possible (*see note above)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

455g rigatoni pasta (gluten-free if required)

115g soft goat cheese

50g coarsely grated pecorino Romano cheese

4 sprigs of parsley, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper. In a large casserole pan, heat the oil over a medium-high heat and working in two batches sear the pork until well browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate.
2. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan. Tie the rosemary and sage into a bundle with kitchen string, then add it to the pan along with the wine. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits of pork stuck to the bottom of the pan. Simmer over a medium-low heat until the wine has reduced by half.
3. Return the pork to the pan, pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and place it in a preheated oven, 165’c fan, for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the pork is very tender.
4. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a plate. Skim off the fat from the braising liquid and return the pan to the stove. Bring the braising liquid to the boil and boil vigorously for approximately 30 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to about 240ml. Meanwhile, shred the pork with a fork.
5. Transfer the reduced braising liquid to a bowl. Return the pan to the stove and melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the fennel seeds, carrots, celery, onion and garlic and sauté for 6-8 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the chilli flakes and sauté for a minute. Add the milk, tomatoes, tomato paste, pork and reserved braising liquid. Simmer, uncovered, for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the flavours meld and the ragu slightly thickens. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Meanwhile cook the rigatoni according to the packet instructions, until al dente.
7. In a small bowl combine the goat cheese with a little warm water – add a little at a time until it is smooth, thick and creamy, similar to the consistency of sour cream.
8. To serve divide the pasta among bowls and pile each with the ragu. Top with some grated pecorino cheese and a dollop of goat cheese, season with freshly cracked black pepper.

Roast Pork Chops with Apple Sauce, Chimichurri & Crackling

In this recipe from the cookbook, ‘For the Love of Food’, Chef Paul Ainsworth gives the traditional pork chop an extra punch with the addition of the Latin American sauce, Chimichurri. It works particularly well with the salty pork crackling and the sweet yet slightly tart apple sauce. It’s a lively dish perfect on any day, be it May or the midst of the winter. (I’ve slightly changed the preparation of the crackling and chops from the original recipe).

4 pork chops

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the Apple Sauce:

2 Bramly apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

100ml cider

20g caster sugar

3 sprigs thyme, leaves picked

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced

For the Chimichurri:

60g flat leaf parsley, stalks included

60g coriander, stalks included

15g oregano, leaves picked

1 garlic clove, peeled

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

1 teaspoon ground cumin

80ml olive oil

60ml cider vinegar

For the Crackling:

1-2 tablespoons malt vinegar

Sea salt

1. First of all make the crackling: cut off the rind from the chops. Score the rinds a couple of times. Pour boiling water over each piece, dry it, and sprinkle over the malt vinegar, rubbing it in, finally sprinkle with salt. Leave to one side for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, place on a baking tray and cook in the oven, 200’c, for 30 minutes until crisp. Leave to one side until ready to serve.
2. To make the apple sauce, take a medium saucepan and add the Bramley apple, cider, sugar and thyme leaves. Cover with a lid and cook over a high heat, stirring occasionally. The apples will soften quickly. Once smooth, add the lemon juice. Set to one side; when ready to serve, gently reheat and add the diced Granny Smith apple.
3. To make the Chimichurri, add all the ingredients to a liquidizer or food processor and blitz.
4. For the Chops, lightly oil and season with salt and pepper, then place in a hot pan over a moderate heat and brown on each side. When the chops are browned place on a baking tray and cook in the oven, 200’c fan, for about 10 minutes depending on their thickness (a meat probe will read around 47’c). Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10minutes.
5. Carve each chop and serve with the apple sauce, chimichurri and crackling.

Hainanese Pork and New Potato Curry (Serves 3- 4)

This recipe, from the Singaporean cookbook ‘Agak Agak’, is a sweet and mild dish with a depth of moreish fragrant flavours. It’s one of those curries which the whole family will love – they’ll be wanting second helpings so you might want to double the recipe!

500g pork shoulder, cut into 3cm chunks

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

2 lemongrass stalks, bashed lightly

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

200ml coconut milk

About 250ml water

250g baby new potatoes, unpeeled, left whole, larger ones halved

3 tablespoons light soy sauce or to taste (gluten-free if required)

2 teaspoons light brown sugar or to taste

For the spice paste:

100g shallots, roughly chopped

15g piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cumin

Big pinch of sea salt

1. For the spice paste, pound the shallots, ginger and garlic using a pestle and mortar or whizz in a blender until you get a smooth paste. Then mix in the ground spices and salt. Coat the pork chunks with the spice paste and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
2. In a wok or shallow casserole, fry the whole spices and the lemongrass in the oil over a medium heat for about 1 minute, to help release their fragrance.
3. Add the marinated pork, scraping in all the spice paste, then fry for about 10 minutes until the pork browns.
4. Next stir in the coconut milk and enough water to just cover the pork. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down to low and cook, partially covered, for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
5. Gently tip in the potatoes and season the curry with soy sauce and sugar. Pop the lid back on and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the pork and potatoes are very tender. Taste and adjust seasoning with more soy sauce or sugar if you like. Serve with rice.

Pork Meatballs with Cider & Chestnuts (Serves 4)

Taken from ‘Med’, Claudia Roden’s cookbook, this is a dish which everyone is bound to love, kids and adults alike!..

2 onions, halved and sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil

500g minced pork

A good pinch of ground nutmeg

30g currants or raisins, soaked in water for 30 minutes

25g pine nuts

Plain flour to coat the meatballs (gluten-free if required)

400ml medium-dry cider

180g pack cooked whole chestnuts

Sea salt and black pepper

1. In a large sauté pan, fry the onions in the oil over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until brown and beginning to caramelise, stirring from time to time, then remove them from the pan.
2. Put the meat in a bowl. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and knead vigorously to achieve a soft, paste like texture. Work in the drained currants or raisins and the pine nuts. Take small pieces of the meat mixture and roll into little balls the size of a large walnut, pressing firmly between the palms of your hands.
3. Roll the meatballs in flour, put them in the pan and cook over a medium heat, turning to lightly brown them all over.
4. Return the fried onions to the pan and add the cider and the chestnuts, along with salt and plenty of black pepper. Simmer for around 15 minutes, covered, turning the meatballs over once, until they are cooked through and you are happy with the consistency of the sauce. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Sausage & Charred Citrus Traybake (Serves 4)

I must admit that I would never have thought that the combination of these flavours would work as well as they do – but believe me they do! We have Ixta Belfrage’s incredibly inventive cookbook, Mexcla, to thank for this recipe. The charred citrus juices blend beautifully with the cooking juices to create a tasty, aromatic sweet and sour sauce while the chickpeas stirred in at the end of cooking make it a substantial one-dish bake. It’s very important to use good quality Italian style sausages for this recipe as their fatty juices will run into the veg and sauce and not dry out.

300g carrots, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

1 red onion, cut into sixths

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 large mild red chillies, halved lengthways

3 tablespoons olive oil

1½ teaspoons maple syrup

½ teaspoon chipotle flakes

½ teaspoon Aleppo chilli or pul biber

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon fine salt

8 good quality, fatty sausages, preferably Italian style (gluten-free if required)

90g water

1 lime, halved

1 tangerine, halved

200g tinned chickpeas, drained

For the Cucumber Salsa:

½ cucumber, peeled, halved, seeds removed

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt

5g fresh coriander, finally chopped

5g fresh chives, finally chopped

1. Place the first 12 ingredients (everything from the carrots to the sausages) in a large roasting tin. Mix well, then spread the sausages out. Pour the water into the tin, around the sausages making sure that you don’t get them wet!
2. Roast in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 35-40 minutes, turning the vegetables (but not the sausages) a couple of times, until the sausages are cooked through and the vegetables are golden brown.
3. While the sausages are in the oven, place a large frying pan on a high heat. Once very hot place the citrus halves, cut side down in the pan and char for 3-4 minutes or until the cut sides are nicely charred.
4. For the salsa, chop the cucumber into 1cm cubes and mix together with the lime juice, oil, and salt. Then, just before serving stir in the chopped herbs.
5. Transfer the contents of the roasting tin to a platter and squeeze over the charred citrus then stir in the chickpeas. Top with some of the cucumber salsa, serving the rest on the side.

Slow-Roast Hoisin Pork Shoulder (with Radish & Cucumber Salad) (Serves 4-6)

This is another wonderful recipe from Diana Henry, it’s a sweet and subtly spicy dish which everyone will love. Although the pork is cooked for over 5 hours it’s a very hassle free dish – apart from basting the meat for the last hour of cooking you simply ignore it in the oven. It makes a delicious dinner served with sticky rice and a crunchy radish and cucumber salad (recipe below). *The skin is removed from the pork but rather than discarding it why not make some pork crackling?! – recipe below…

1.9kg shoulder of pork, boned, skin removed/ fat left on (*see note above)

125ml soy sauce (gluten free if required)

125ml runny honey

125ml hoisin sauce (gluten free if required)

125ml dry sherry

2 teaspoons five-spice powder

3cm piece ginger, peeled and grated to a purée

1. Mix together the ingredients to make a marinade and put this in a large Ziploc bag with the pork. Marinate in the fridge for anything from 24-48 hours.
2. Bring the pork back to room temperature for an hour before you are going to cook it.
3. Place the pork in a roasting tin in which it will fit snugly (if there is too much room around it the juices and marinade will run off and burn) and pour the marinade into a bowl.
4. Cook the pork in a preheated oven, 120’c fan, fro 4½-5 hours or until the meat is soft and melting.
5. Ladle some of the marinade over the pork and return to the oven. Keep adding more marinade and basting the pork every 10 minutes for another hour, turning the meat over each time you do this. The pork should end up dark and glossy. If the joint starts to get too dark on the outside cover it with foil.
6. Serve with Radish and Cucumber salad (recipe below) and sticky rice.

Radish and Cucumber Salad (Serves 4)

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 teaspoons caster sugar

2cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated

1 large garlic clove, very finely chopped

1 cold cucumber, peeled in stripes and cut in half along its length

300g radishes (a mixture of colours if possible), cut into quarters or eighths

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (or a mixture of white and black sesame seeds)

1. Make the dressing by mixing the vinegar, sugar, ginger and garlic together with a pinch of salt.
2. Scoop out the seeds from the cucumber and cut it into 4cm-thick pieces. Bash these with a rolling pin.
3. Put the cucumber in a bowl with the dressing and chill for 20 minutes.
4. Add the radishes and sesame oil, and toss the salad. Scatter the sesame seeds on top.

Best Pork Crackling

Oh yum, pork crackling, who can resist?..

Pork skin, scored

Malt vinegar (or if gluten free use cider vinegar)

Sea salt

1. Set the pork skin on a rack and pour over boiling water. The water will drain away.

2. Dry the skin, rub with vinegar and salt and set aside for 20 minutes.
3. Place the skin in a roasting tin and roast in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for an hour, until crisp.

Bean Stew with Chorizo and Bacon (Serves 4)

This is a recipe from Claudia Roden’s ‘Med; A Cookbook’, it’s a soupy stew, perfect for supper plus, any left-overs will reheat beautifully to make a fantastic lunch!

2 tablespoons olive oil

200g unsmoked bacon lardons or pancetta

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1 tomato, peeled and chopped

2 x 400g tins of cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed

250g chorizo, cut into slices

500ml chicken stock

4 thyme leaves

Sea salt

Extra virgin olive oil to serve

1. Heat the oil in a wide pan and add the bacon or pancetta and the onion. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is golden and the bacon crisp.
2. Stir in the cinnamon, allspice, tomato, beans and chorizo. Pour in the stock, add the thyme sprigs and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes.
3. Season with salt if necessary. Serve hot and pass round the extra virgin olive oil for people to drizzle on.

Baked Sausages with Chestnuts (Serves 4)

This seriously simple recipe from Diana Henry’s ‘Pure Simple Cooking’. Despite its simplicity it’s not your average sausage traybake – the addition of chestnuts and red wine lift it to higher realms! Simply serve with some creamy mashed potato (recipe here).

8 good-quality pork sausages (gluten free if required)

150g cooked vacuum-packed chestnuts

350g field mushrooms, cut into thick slices

1 large onion cut into half-moon-shaped wedges

1 bulb garlic, cloves separated but not peeled

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 sprigs rosemary

1 bay leaf

250ml red wine

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Put everything except the red wine into a broad, shallow baking dish/ roasting tin. Turn the ingredients so that they are coated in olive oil.
2. Roast in a preheated oven, 190’c fan, for 25 minutes. Pour in the red wine and cook for another 25 minutes.
3. Serve with mashed (or roasted potatoes) and a salad of winter greens.

Pork Chops with Plum and Chinese Spices (Serves 4)

This is a real ‘crowd pleaser’ from Diana Henry’s cook book, ‘Pure Simple Cooking’; as the name of the book promises, this recipe is effortless but with plenty of flavour. All you need to accompany it is some rice and greens – I particularly like a watercress salad or tenderstem broccoli.

450g (about 8) plums, preferably crimson-fleshed ones

4 pork chops, bone in and partly trimmed of fat

5 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

1 teaspoon ginger

1 medium fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

Juice of ½ orange

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

1. Halve and pit the plums and if they are quite large cut them into quarters. Lay the chops in a shallow ovenproof dish and tuck the plums in around them where they can lie in a single layer without overlapping.
2. Mix together the honey, five-spice powder, ginger, chilli, garlic, orange juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over the chops, turning everything to make sure they are well coated. Bake for 45 minutes in a preheated oven, 190’c fan, until cooked through.

Cider Roasted Pork Shoulder (Serves 4)

This is a recipe that simply cries to be eaten on a cold day! Pork, cider and apples how can one resist?! I found this recipe in Donna Hay’s cookbook ‘Seasons’, and as with a lot of her recipes, it’s super easy to make. This really is a recipe you need to make a note of…

1.8kg pork shoulder, tied and skin scored

Sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 red onions, peeled and halved

250ml apple juice

750ml dry cider

75g brown sugar

4 fresh bay leaves

4 sprigs thyme

1. Rub the skin of the pork with the salt.
2. Place the oil and onions in a deep baking dish, top with the pork and roast a preheated oven, 220’c fan, for 30 minutes.
3. Place the apple juice, cider and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the apple mixture, bay leaves and thyme to the pork (do not pour it over the skin of the pork as you want this to crisp up), cover with foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 180’c and roast for a further 2 hours.
4. Remove the foil, increase the heat to 200’c and roast for a further 30 minutes or until the skin is gold and crispy.
5. Remove the pork and set aside. Place the baking dish over a medium heat and cook the juices for 10 minutes or until thick and syrupy.
6. Serve the pork with the juices and onions. Roast potatoes and ‘Tenderstem Broccoli with Lemon & Almonds’ are good accompaniments (recipes here).

Baked Sausages with Leeks, Apples & Cider (Serves 4)

This is a fantastic midweek supper dish from Diana Henry’s cookbook ‘Pure Simple Cooking’, it’s perfect on a winter’s evening, but I’ve been known to serve it in all weathers!.. Serve with mashed potatoes (recipe here!)

3 leeks, washed and chopped into 1-inch lengths

2 apples, halved, cored and cut into wedges

8 good quality pork sausages (gluten-free if required)

3 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

30g salted butter, cut into small cubes

280ml cider

2 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard

1. Put the leeks and apples into an oveproof dish and arrange the sausages in a single layer on top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, and toss everything around. Dot with the butter and pour in the cider. Bake in a preheated oven, 190’c, for 50-60 minutes.
2. About 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, spread the mustard over the sausages and any sticking-out apple pieces, and return to the oven.
3. Serve with mashed potatoes (‘My Favourite Mashed Potato’ recipe here!)

Pork, Apple and Cider Pie (Serves 4)

This pie takes full advantage of the wonderful affinity between pork and apple. The apples give the pie a subtle sweetness – unsurprisingly it’s become a firm favourite in our household! The recipe is from Paul Hollywood’s cookbook ‘Pies & Puds’. The original recipe calls for a ‘cider pastry’, I have tried it with this, but I didn’t think it was that special and it definitely didn’t warrant the extra time needed to make it. So I use ready rolled puff pastry and I suggest you do the same!…(I’m gluten free so I can’t eat the pastry, occasionally I use ‘Jus Roll’s Gluten Free Puff Pastry’, but if I’m to be honest it’s not as delicious as the regular version, so I tend to eat the filling with some buttered new potatoes – thus leaving Nick and Felix to fight over my left over pastry!!)

1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium-large onion chopped

2 celery sticks, destringed and chopped

500g pork shoulder, cut into 3-4cm pieces

2 tablespoons plain flour (gluten-free if required)

175ml dry cider

175ml chicken stock

1 cooking apple, 150g, peeled, cored and sliced

2 eating apples, 225-250g, peeled, cored and sliced

6 large sage leaves, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

320g Ready Rolled Puff Pastry (Gluten Free if required – see note above)

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of milk (for a glaze)

(*1.2 litre pie dish)

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, wide pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and celery and cook gently for 8-10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
2. Add a little more oil if necessary to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high, add the half the pork. Brown it well on all sides, remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining pork.
3. Turn the heat down a little. Return all the pork to the pan along with the onion and celery. Sprinkle in the flour, stir and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the cider and stock, stirring so that the flour is absorbed. Add the apples, sage, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.
4. Spoon the pork and apple filling into a pie dish.
5. For the pastry top, gently lay out the pastry. Cut it into a circular shape to top the pie dish. I find that by cutting strips of the remaining pastry, pressing them around the rim of the pie dish and then topping with the pastry top, helps the pastry rise. I also cut out a few leaves for decoration, but obviously, this doesn’t affect the flavour so if you’re in a hurry I’d leave this out! Lightly score the pastry with a criss-cross pattern to help it rise and make sure you cut out a deep cross in the centre to allow the steam to escape during cooking. Brush over with the egg and milk glaze.
6. Bake in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for about 35 minutes until golden and piping hot.

Walnut-Crusted Pork Chops with Figs (Serves 6)

This is an unusual dish from Rick Steins cookbook ‘From Venice to Istanbul’, this particular recipe originates from Croatia. Not only are the chops crusted with walnuts tasty, but the buttery fig sauce is delicious!…

6 large thick-cut pork chops

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

100g walnuts, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

40g butter, softened

125ml white wine

200g dried figs, finely chopped

125ml chicken stock

To finish:

30 g butter

1 tablespoon parsley, roughly chopped

Juice ½ lemon

1. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and score the flesh with a sharp knife. In a shallow roasting tine mix the cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts, add the olive oil to make a paste and roll the chops in the nut mixture, pushing the crumb into the flesh.
2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and brown the chops two at a time, being careful not to burnt he walnuts. This will take a few minutes each side. Then return all the chops to the pan, cover with a lid and cook over a low-medium heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pork chops to a warmed plated and cover with foil to keep them warm. Deglaze the pan with white wine, reduce by half, then add the chopped figs and chicken stock and season to taste. Finally, whisk in the butter, parsley and lemon juice.
4. Serve the pork chops with the sauce spooned over.

Pork, Beef and Ricotta Meatballs with Tomato Sauce (Serves 6)

These meatballs are made from a combination of pork and beef, and are held together by the ricotta cheese rather than breadcrumbs, so have a lighter consistency. I have taken the recipe from Mary Heffernan’s cookbook ‘Five Mary’s Ranch Raised’. The tomato sauce is a basic one that I’ve used over the years, it is rich and garlicky. Served with spaghetti they make a crowd-pleasing dish – they should definitely be on your recipe list!…

For the Tomato Sauce:

6-9 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 x 400g tins whole plum tomatoes

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Sea salt and black pepper

For the Meatballs:

450g minced pork

450g minced beef

250g ricotta cheese

30g grated Parmesan cheese (plus more to serve)

½ onion, finely chopped

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I use Schwartz)

½ teaspoon ground fennel

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Chopped fresh basil leaves to garnish

Spaghetti to serve (gluten-free if required)

1. For the tomato sauce, place the oil in a large, deep-sided frying pan over a medium-high heat, lightly brown the garlic with the bay leaves. Add the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, bring to a simmer, lightly crushing them with the back of a spoon. Simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Put aside whilst you make the meatballs.
2. To make the meatballs, place the pork, beef, ricotta, Parmesan, onion, egg, Italian seasoning, ground fennel, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix gently with your hands until combined. Shape into meatballs, you should make about 28, each about 2 inches in diameter.
3. Lightly oil a baking sheet and space the meatballs evenly on it. Place in a preheated oven, 220’c fan, for 20 minutes, until well browned on one side and cooked through.
4. Loosen the meatballs from the baking tray into the tomato sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook over a medium heat for about 20 minutes, gently moving the meatballs around occasionally.
5. Serve with spaghetti and garnish with the chopped basil and more grated Parmesan.

Medallions of Pork with Prunes & Cognac (Serves 4)

As Rick Stein says in his cookbook ‘Secret France’, this is one of those recipes which has been around forever. Indeed, I have cooked it in various forms over the years, but it is this recipe from Stein’s aforementioned cookbook that is the winner (so far!).  Apart from being delicious, it’s a recipe that is very quick and easy to cook, hence its ongoing popularity. It’s great served with ‘My Favourite Mash’ and ‘Sautéed Spinach with Garlic’ (recipes here).

30g butter

2 teaspoons olive oil

700g pork fillet, trimmed of slivery sinew and cut into 1 cm rounds

2 banana shallots, chopped

60ml Cognac or brandy

150ml double cream

250ml chicken stock

2 teaspoons redcurrant jelly

A few fresh thyme sprigs

12 ready-to-eat pitted prunes

Small handful flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Heat half the butter with the oil in a frying pan and brown the pork medallions for 1-2 minutes, then set them aside.
2. Add the remaining butter and gently fry the shallots until softened. Then add the Cognac and cook for a minute or so until the liquid is reduced by half.
3. Add the cream, chicken stock, redcurrant jelly, thyme sprigs and prunes, and cook for a couple of minutes before putting the pork medallions and any of their juices back in the pan. Taste and season with salt and plenty of pepper, then cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the pork is just cooked through.
4. To serve, remove the thyme and sprinkle with the parsley.

Sausages with Grapes (Serves 4) 

Kids and adults alike will love this dish, it’s a real crowd-pleaser. I have taken the recipe from Skye McAlpine’s cookbook ‘A Table for Friends’, she, in turn, took it from one of her favourite cookbooks…so it is one of those recipes that has done the rounds, and for good reason!…It is a dish that deserves the best pork sausages you can find and really needs little else, although some mashed potato would be good, or as McAlpine suggests, Fennel and Parmesan Purée (both recipes are here).

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 pork sausages (gluten free if required)

500g red grapes

240ml white wine

1 teaspoon cornflower

1. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or casserole over a low heat and add the sausages. Cook, turning occasionally until they are browned all over.
2. Snip the grapes into small bunches, add these to the sausages, then pour in the wine.
3. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until the sausages are cooked through and the wine has evaporated by half. Remove the sausages and grapes to a serving dish with a slotted spoon, leaving behind the cooking juices.
4. To make the sauce, mix the cornflour with a tablespoon of cooking liquid in a small bowl, then add this to the juices in the pan. Bring to the boil, stirring, and simmer for 2 minutes until thickened. Serve with the sausages and sweet grapes.

Pork Steak with Mustard & Gherkin Sauce (Serves 4)

Pork collar steak is a cut of meat which is often overlooked, it’s a shame as not only is it one of the cheaper cuts of meat but it is also very tasty. This recipe shows just how special it can be. I found the recipe in Daniel Galmiche’s ‘French Brasserie Cookbook’, it really is an inspiration; the sharpness of the gherkin and mustard in the sauce beautifully cuts the richness of the cream and pork. It is super quick to cook, all it needs is a good crisp salad and perhaps some ‘homemade chips’, or on a cold night, some creamy mash potato is great for mopping up the sauce! (recipes here).

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 pork collar steaks, about 150g each

30g butter

160ml double cream

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard

4 tarragon sprigs, leaves roughly chopped

8 small gherkins (cornichons), halved and sliced into strips

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Warm the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the steaks and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown, adding the butter when you turn them over. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
2. Add 4 tablespoons of water to the pan, stirring to deglaze it. Bring this liquid to a simmer over a low heat and slowly stir in the cream and mustard, then add the gherkins and tarragon and season with salt and pepper.
3. When the sauce is heated through, pour over the steaks and serve.

Chilli-Rubbed Pork Chops with Charred-Corn Salsa (Serves 4)

This is another incredibly tasty recipe from the cookbook ‘Five Marys Ranch Raised’. To create the wonderful chargrill flavour you do need to use a griddle pan (or a BBQ). The pork chops are seasoned with a chilli rub, I use a mild chilli powder but if you prefer a hotter kick you can of course use hot chilli powder. The sweet-smoky corn salsa makes this recipe extra special – chargrilling the corn cobs creates a delicious, sweet BBQ flavour. The pork chops are cut relatively thinly, so are ready in minutes; it really is a perfect quick dinner dish, just serve with a big salad, and with either ‘Roasted Cauliflower with Chilli & Lime’ or ‘Homemade Oven Chips’ (recipes here).

For the Pork:

4 pork chops (bone in), ¼ inch thick

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon chilli powder (see note above)

1½ teaspoons salt flakes

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

For the Salsa:

2 corn on the cob

2 slices red onion, each ½inch thick

Olive oil

Large bunch of fresh coriander, leaves finely chopped plus a few sprigs to garnish

1 small green jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Sea salt and black pepper

1. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, garlic, chilli powder, salt, paprika and oregano to form a paste. Spread the paste evenly over the chops and set aside at room temperature for up to 30 minutes.
2. To make the salsa, brush the corn cobs and the onion slices with olive oil. Heat a griddle pan until very hot, then place the corn in the hot pan and cook, turning, until tender and slightly charred – about 7-10 minutes. Cook the onion slices in the same way, they will need less time – about 5 minutes.
3. Cut the corn from the cobs and finely chop the onion. Combine the corn and onion in a bowl with the chopped coriander, jalapeno, lime juice and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Put to one side.
4. Reheat the griddle pan until smoking hot and place the pork chops on the pan, griddle for 2-3 minutes, so they get lovely chargrilled marks, then turn and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, until the chops are cooked through.
5. Transfer to a serving plate to rest for a few minutes before serving with the corn salsa, garnished with the coriander sprigs. It is delicious served with ‘Roasted Cauliflower with Chilli & Lime’ or ‘Homemade Oven Chips’ – recipes here.

Medallions of Pork with Rhubarb Salsa and Sautéed Spinach (Serves 4)

Rhubarb isn’t just for dessert, it works well with savoury dishes too, as it’s fruity, tart flavour really complements meat such as pork or duck. This dish is very good with Sautéed Spinach and Baby Roast Potatoes (recipes here).

2 pork tenderloins (trimmed of any fat and silverskin)

40g butter

For the Salsa:

225g rhubarb

60ml white wine

2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly

2 tablespoons crème fraiche

1 teaspoon sugar

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1. Cut the rhubarb  into small slices (about 1cm). Place in a saucepan with the white wine and gently cook until it becomes ‘mushy’ and tender. Purée until smooth – a stick blender is ideal for this or you can use a food processor.
2. Melt the jelly in a saucepan, then add the rhubarb purée, crème fraîche, sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt and nutmeg.
3. Meanwhile, cut the tenderloins, into 2cm slices. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the medallions over a medium to high heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side – you want them to still be a little pink.
4. Serve the warm salsa over the pork medallions. Serve with Sautéed Spinach and Baby Roast Potatoes (recipes here).

The Very Best Sausage Rolls (with a gluten free option!!)

Seriously, this is the best sausage roll recipe you will come across!…The secret is the sausage meat, the combination of bacon and fennel with the pork mince really adds a burst of flavour. Apart from making the sausage meat, this recipe is very quick, as it uses ready rolled puff pastry. Any uncooked sausage rolls can be easily frozen and cooked at a later date.

Gluten Free Note: As you may know, I’m gluten free, and so I make these both with and without gluten, if I’m totally honest the gluten recipe is slightly better, however the gluten free option is still very good. I have recently discovered ‘Jus Roll Gluten Free Ready Rolled Puff Pastry’, and I was pleasantly surprised with it, it doesn’t puff up in quite the same way as the gluten puff pastry, hence those pictured are made with ‘proper puff pastry’, however they still taste rather delicious!

The sausage meat recipe requires ‘Panko’ Breadcrumbs, so as a gluten free option I use ‘Esgir, Gluten Free Crunchy Crumbs’, which are a great substitute.

For the Sausaage Meat

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

150g unsmoked streaky bacon, finely chopped

Olive oil

2 teaspoons fennel seeds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan

500g pork mince

40g panko breadcrumbs (or gluten free crumbs – see note above)

1 egg, lightly whisked

½ teaspoon salt

Black pepper

For the Rolls

2 packets of Jus Rol Ready Rolled Puff Pastry (Gluten Free if required – see note above)

1 egg, lightly whisked

A little plain flour (gluten free if required) for rolling

1. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic and celery for 2 minutes, then add the bacon. Cook for a further 2 minutes without browning. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
2. Add the fennel seeds, pork mince, breadcrumbs, salt and a little pepper and the egg, mix well using your hands.
3. To make the rolls: lay out the pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. Cut each rectangle of pastry in half lengthways, so that you have four pieces. Put the sausage meat in a compact log shape along the middle length of each piece of the pastry. For each piece: brush the egg along one long edge, fold the pastry over to meet this egg washed edge, seal tightly, then fold this sealed edge under the long roll.
4. If you have the patience it is a good idea to refrigerate the long rolls for an hour before cooking, as it makes them easier to cut.
5. When you are ready to cook them, cut each long roll into smaller lengths to create ‘sausage rolls’. Gently score each roll a couple of times with a knife and brush with the egg wash.
6. Place on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven, 180’c fan,  for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and serve warm.

Freezing Note: You can freeze unbaked sausage rolls, place in an airtight container in single layers with baking paper between each layer. You can cook them from frozen, brush with egg wash and place in a preheated oven, 180’c, for about 40 minutes.

Simple Sausages with Roasted Potato & Onion Wedges (Serves 4)

This is a great midweek supper, it’s more or less a matter of putting the ingredients in a roasting pan and leaving the oven to do its work!

900g large potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 – 4 fresh rosemary sprigs

2 red onions, peeled and each cut into eight wedges

8 sausages (gluten free if required)

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Put the potatoes in a roasting tin drizzle over the olive oil and turn to coat, seasoning with salt and pepper. Place the rosemary on top. Place in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 20 minutes.
2. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and add the onion wedges, toss with the potatoes so that they get a good coating of olive oil. Then put the sausages in between the potatoes and onions. Return to the oven for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Serve with tenderstem broccoli or baked beans (Heinz!), and a dollop of tomato ketchup and mustard!

Pork Chops with Pears & Crackling (Serves 4) 

This is one of our family’s favourites, a real ‘hug on a plate’ – a beautiful creamy dish. I found the recipe years ago in a magazine, the cutting is now rather dog-eared, as I’ve cooked it so many times! The crackling, which is made from the rind of the chops, is my personal addition to the recipe and one which, I must admit, is one of my more brilliant ideas(!); it is really worth making as it makes this dish extra special. I like to serve this with my ‘favourite’ mashed potato or, if I’m feeling a little lazy, jacket potatoes, and for some greenery I like tenderstem broccoli with lemon butter and almonds (all recipes are here).

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 pork chops

4 bushy sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and chopped

2 medium pears

15g butter

200ml dry cider

150ml double cream

Sea salt and Black pepper

For the Crackling

1-2 tablespoons malt vinegar

Sea salt

1. First of all make the crackling: cut off the rind from the chops. Score the rinds a couple of times. Pour boiling water over each piece, dry it, and sprinkle over the malt vinegar, rubbing it in, finally sprinkle with salt. Leave to one side for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, place on a baking tray and cook in the oven, 200’c, for 30 minutes until crisp.
2. Meanwhile, lightly oil the chops, sprinkle over the thyme and season with salt and pepper.
3. Halve and core the pears, cut into large dice. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the diced pear until golden and slightly caramelised on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan brown the chops on each side over a moderate heat. When browned place on a baking tray and cook in the oven, 200’c fan, for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, deglaze the frying pan with the cider, stirring to dissolve any sticky residue that the chops have left behind. Boil and reduce the cider for 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the cream, whisk lightly to mix in and allow to bubble down for a minute or so.
7. Return the chops and the pears to the pan to reheat everything. Check the seasoning. Serve with the crackling, mashed potato or jacket potatoes and tenderstem broccoli (recipes here).

Click here to see the video of the crackling being made!