A lovely comforting dish, this pork casserole is cooked slowly with cider and stock in the oven. It's finished off with a good splash of cream and a sprinkling of crispy bacon lardons.
Course Dinner
Cuisine British
Keyword autumn, Casserole, Comfort Food, Family Meal, winter
¼tspcelery saltoptional – I find it adds a nice savoury flavour
1onionpeeled and chopped
12baby mushroomschopped in half
2carrotspeeled and chopped
250ml(1 cup) dry ciderhard cider if you're in the USA
420ml(1+¾ cups) chicken or vegetable stockwater + 2 stock cubes is fine
½tspdried thyme
150g(½ cup) bacon lardons or chopped streaky bacon
1tbspcornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 3 tbsp cold water
60ml(¼ cup) double (heavy) cream
2tbspfreshly chopped parsley
To Serve:
mashed potatoes
steamed kale or other green veg
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F (fan).
Heat 1 ½ tbsp of the oil in a large casserole dish, over a high heat, until hot.
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Add the pork, salt, pepper and celery salt and brown on all sides - it should take around 6-8 minutes.
500 g (1.1 lbs) diced pork shoulder, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, ¼ tsp celery salt
Turn the heat down to medium and add in the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion softens.
1 onion
Add the mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes.
12 baby mushrooms
Add the carrots, cider, stock, and dried thyme. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Stir and scrape up any bits that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
2 carrots, 250 ml (1 cup) dry cider, 420 ml (1+¾ cups) chicken or vegetable stock, ½ tsp dried thyme
Place a lid on the pan, and place in the oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours*, until the pork flakes apart when you press it with a fork. Check a couple of times during the last hour of cooking and add a splash of water or stock if it's starting to look a little dry.
Just before the casserole comes out of the oven, heat the remaining ½ tbsp oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon lardons until crispy. Turn off the heat.
150 g (½ cup) bacon lardons or chopped streaky bacon
Remove the casserole from the oven and stir in the cornstarch and water mixture to thicken, if needed.
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 3 tbsp cold water
Stir in the cream. Taste and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed. Sprinkle on the bacon lardons.
60 ml (¼ cup) double (heavy) cream
Serve with green veg on top of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle on a little chopped parsley before serving.
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley, mashed potatoes, steamed kale or other green veg
Notes
Cook in the slow cookerCook the ingredients until the point it's just about to go in the oven. Then transfer to a slow cooker at this point and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 5-6 hours on medium.Make aheadMake the recipe (excluding frying the bacon lardons) and stir in the cream, then cool, cover and refrigerate or freeze.If freezing, defrost overnight in the refrigerator.ReheatReheat in a pan over a low-medium heat for approx 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until piping hot throughout.Or in a preheated oven, in a covered dish, at 170C/325F for around 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until piping hot throughout.Scale upScale up this recipe to serve 8 people by doubling the ingredients. You will probably need to cook in the oven for the full three hours, to ensure the pork is fall-apart tender.Nutrition info is for one serving of this recipe and does not include serving suggestions of mashed potatoes and green veg.