A warming one pot recipe to combat cold winter evenings, try this slow-cooked pork, pear and sherry casserole for a proper dose of comfort food – you won’t regret it. Casseroles don’t come much finer.
If you like this, you’ll love our Dorset pork and cider casserole recipe.
Ingredients
- 40g dried porcini mushrooms
- Olive oil for frying
- 1.5kg British free-range pork shoulder, cut into 5cm chunks
- 250g mixed wild mushrooms, torn or sliced
- 2 pears, cored and cut into thin wedges
- 300g baby shallots, peeled and trimmed
- 2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
- 500ml chicken stock, hot
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 125ml dry sherry, plus a splash
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- Small handful fresh tarragon, chopped
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs, toasted in a dry pan – or use a 25g pack flavoured breadcrumbs (optional)
You’ll also need…
- Heavy-based casserole with lid
Method
- Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3½. Put the dried porcini in a heatproof bowl, pour over 250ml freshly boiled water, then set aside
- Heat a splash of oil in a large heavy-based casserole and brown the pork chunks, a few at a time. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and repeat until all the pork has been browned.
- Add the fresh mushrooms to the casserole, then fry for 4-5 minutes until just softening and golden on all sides. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the pear wedges and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden, then put on the plate with the fried mushrooms.
- Put the shallots and leeks in the casserole and cook for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden. Transfer to the bowl with the pork. Keep the casserole to hand.
- Put the hot stock in a jug if it isn’t already, set a sieve over the jug, then strain in the mushroom liquid (discard any grit left in the sieve). Set aside the rehydrated mushrooms.
- Stir the flour into the fat in the casserole (or add a splash of oil if the pan is a little dry) and cook until smelling toasty, then pour in the sherry and mix to make a paste, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan for extra flavour; cook for about 2 minutes.
- Gradually stir in the stock to make a smooth sauce, season generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the rehydrated mushrooms, pork, shallots, leeks and any resting juices. Bring up to a simmer, cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours or until the pork is tender (see tip).
- Add most of the fried mushrooms and pear wedges to the casserole and return the pot to the oven, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes to thicken the sauce. To serve, stir in the mustard and a splash more sherry, top with the reserved pear slices and mushrooms, and sprinkle with the tarragon, breadcrumbs (if using) and a good grind of black pepper (see Make Ahead). This casserole tastes great with creamy mashed potatoes.
Nutrition
- 479kcals Calories
- 13.3g (4g saturated) Fat
- 62.5g Protein
- 19.1g (9.4g sugars) Carbs
- 5.4g Fibre
- 0.8g Salt
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