Italian Braised Pork Shoulder Recipes

SUCCULENT BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

ITALIAN BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season pork with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, celery, and fennel seeds to pan; cook until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker along with tomatoes. Cover and cook on high until pork is very tender, 4 hours (or 8 hours on low).
• Transfer pork to a cutting board. With 2 forks, shred meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Skim fat off sauce and discard. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and stir to combine. (To store: Cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days.) Serve over couscous.

BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Generously salt and pepper the pork shoulder and let meat come to room temperature (about 2 hours) Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Add olive oil to a large, deep pan, Over medium-high heat, sear pork until brown on all sides; set aside.
• Dump excess oil from pan, leaving a coating of oil.
• Add onions to pan and sweat over low heat until translucent.
• Return pork to pan and add remaining ingredients.
• Cover and place in oven, and cook for 2 to 3 hours (internal temperature should be about 140-150°F) or cook on stove top for 2 to 3 hours over low heat.
• Remove pork from pan and let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.
• Serve with a starch and vegetables.

LIDIA'S FAMILY TABLE - BRAISED PORK SHOULDER WITH ONIONS

Steps:

• Mince bacon and garlic together into a fine pestata. chop the carrot, celery and onion separately Rinse and dry the pork, then sprinkle half teaspoon salt lightly on all surfaces, patting it on. Pour the oil into the braising pan and set it over medium heat. Before it gets hot, lay the pork in and brown it-lightly-turning it after a minute or so on each side. While the meat is browning, scrape the pestata into the pan bottom; spread it out and let the bacon begin to render. Drop in peperoncino now, if you want some heat in the salsa; toast it in the pan bottom. After 3 minutes or so of browning the pork, drop the tomato paste into the fat; stir and caramelize a minute. Dump the shredded carrot and celery into the pan bottom; stir for a minute just to get them cooking. (Keep turning the meat so it browns evenly and slowly.) Now scrape the chopped onions into the pan around the meat. Sprinkle the remaining coarse salt over the onions; raise the heat a bit, stirring the onions up from the bottom and mixing them with the oil, pestata and tomato. Cook on medium high heat for about 5 minutes until the onions are starting to sweat. Cover and turn the heat to medium-low. The pork is now going to cook for about 3 hours. Leave it alone for the first 45 minutes, then uncover, turn the meat and stir the onions. They should be wilting and releasing liquid; if there is any sign of burning, lower the heat. Cover and cook for another 45 minutes, turn the meat and stir the onions. They should be quite reduced in volume, in a thick simmering sauce. Stir in 2 cups of hot broth, bringing the liquid higher around the pork. Cook covered for another 45 minutes, then stir. If the sauce level has dropped a lot and is beginning to stick, stir in another cup or 2 of broth. Taste and add more salt, if necessary. Cover and cook another 1/2 hour to 45". consistency of the onions-they should be melting into the sauce and the meat should be soft when pierced with a fork.

BRAISED PORK RAGU

Steps:

• Season pork with the rosemary, thyme, pepper, and salt. Heat oil in a large large Dutch over over medium-high heat. Sear pork in the hot oil until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Stir onion and carrot into pot; cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour in the wine; stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomatoes and stock. Bring to a simmer; cook until meat is very tender and the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.