Pork Sugo
Description
A brilliant alternative to your regular pasta and meat sauce – and it freezes beautifully. Kyla discovered the recipe and so we all need to thank her – yet again!
Ingredients
Pork Sugo
2 –4 slices of bacon, chopped (I often use more)
2 lb. + pork shoulder, pork butt or pork loin – cut into 3 or 4 same sized chunks – keep the fat on!
1 large red onion, diced AND 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 carrots, small dice
1 c. red wine
1 small can (14 oz/398 mL) diced tomatoes AND 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) crushed tomatoes (fire-roasted) – altogether you want 3 to 4 cups of tomatoes, I’ve also used chopped cherry tomatoes instead of the diced
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1–2 T. brown sugar (to taste)
cooked pasta and freshly grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving
Instructions
Cook the bacon in a large heavy pot, remove it when it’s crisp and set aside. Generously salt and pepper your pork roast chunks, add them to the pot and brown them well on all sides in the bacon fat. It’s fine if bits stick, everything will come together after cooking. Transfer the pork to a plate (with the bacon) and drain off all but 1 tablespoon or so of oil and then add in the onion, garlic and carrots and cook and stir until they’ve softened and started to brown. Add in the wine, bring the mix to a boil and stir and scrape until all of the browned bits have come off the bottom of your pot. Add in all of the tomatoes, thyme, pork and bacon.
The pork should be pretty much submerged in the sauce, but you can turn it once in a while if it’s not. Cover the pot but leave the lid open a touch, turn the burner down to a simmer and leave it for about 3 hours – I’ve also put it in the oven for 3-4 hours in my covered Dutch oven at 350. Check it once in a while and give it a stir and when the pork is tender, remove any obvious slabs of fat and the now empty thyme sprigs and then use a couple of forks to shred the meat right in the sauce. If you’ve given it the 3 hours, this will be very easy. Remove any excess fat if you feel there’s too much, add some broth if the mixture is too thick or reduce it a little if it’s too thin – you decide, you can’t wreck this.
When it’s all ready to go, add in a tablespoon of brown sugar and give it a taste – you want just enough sugar to bring out the tomato – I used 2 tablespoons for this batch. Serve over fresh pasta with a big handful of freshly grated cheese – enjoy!
- Category: Pork, Freezes Well, Pasta
