Pork shoulder and chorizo stew with sherry, crackling and capers
- Published: 23 Apr 15
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Slow cooked pork, spicy chorizo, chickpeas, fennel and carrot combine in this stew recipe to make a warming dinner that’s longing to be mopped up with crusty bread.
- Serves 6-8
- Hands-on time 20 min, simmering time 3 hours 40 min
Ingredients
- Olive oil for frying
- 1 large fennel bulb, root removed, thickly sliced
- 1kg carrots, thickly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2kg British free-range pork shoulder joint
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 200g cooking chorizo, chopped
- 400ml light dry sherry, such as fino, plus an extra splash to taste
- 1 litre good quality chicken stock
- 5 fresh thyme sprigs
- 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp salt
For the garnish
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 40g capers, drained
- Large handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
To serve
- Crusty bread
Method
- Heat a glug of oil in a large, deep, flameproof lidded casserole, add the fennel and carrots and cook on a high heat, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the vegetables have a little colour. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then remove all the veg from the pan and set aside.
- Remove the skin from the pork using a sharp knife and reserve. Chop the meat into 4 large pieces and coat in the flour. Add a little more oil to the casserole, add the pork and chorizo, turn up the heat, then cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the sherry. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add the chicken stock, thyme, chickpeas and reserved vegetables. Put the lid on the casserole and cook over a low heat for 3 hours, stirring and turning the meat occasionally.
- For the last hour of the cooking time, heat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7. Pat dry the reserved pork skin and score it diagonally with a sharp knife – make the scores quite close together for maximum crispiness. Rub 2 tbsp salt into the scores and all over the skin. Put it on a wire rack set in a roasting tray, then roast for 30 minutes until crackled, puffed and golden. Set aside.
- When the meat is super-tender, skim off the excess fat from the surface of the stew. Remove the pork to a plate and set aside, then turn up the heat to high and reduce the stock for 35-40 minutes until it has the consistency of gravy. Break up the meat with 2 forks and stir it though the reduced sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then stir in a good splash of dry sherry.
- For the garnish, heat 1 tbsp oil in a medium frying pan, then fry the capers for 3-4 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove, cool slightly, then mix with the chopped parsley.
- Serve the pork sprinkled with the crispy capers and parsley mixture, and strips of crackling, with some crusty bread on the side for mopping up the sauce.
- Recipe from March 2015 Issue
Nutrition
For 8 servings
- Calories
- 583kcals
- Fat
- 21.8g (6.8g saturated)
- Protein
- 65.5g
- Carbohydrates
- 17.7g (8.8g sugars)
- Fibre
- 9.2g
- Salt
- 2.8g
delicious. tips
Make this up to 3 days in advance. The fat may set as it cools, making it easier to remove some of it. But remember: lots of the flavour is in the fat.
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