Pork Ragu

Every once in a while a recipe in a magazine catches my attention, and this one for Pork Ragu came from the November 2011 issue of Women's Day. They wrote it up as a crock pot recipe, I just used a cast iron dutch oven (and boneless pork loin) and slow simmered it for about 2 1/2 hours on the stove.

Sure made the house smell good:@)

Pork Ragu

1-28 oz can whole tomatoes, drained

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4" pieces

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 C dry white wine

2 tsp dried oregano

Kosher salt and pepper (1/2 tsp each)

2 1/2 lb pork shoulder, trimmed and quartered

12 oz pappardelle or other wide noodles

1/2 C fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 C grated Parmesan (1oz)

1. In a 5-6 quart slow cooker add first 7 ingredients.
2. Add pork, cook covered until the pork is cooked through and easily pulls apart. 6-8 hrs low or 4-5 hrs high.
3. 20 minutes before serving, cook the pasta. 
4. Break meat apart into smaller pieces and stir it back into the cooking liquid. Fold in parsley.
5. Serve pork over pasta and sprinkle on Parmesan.

Notes:

• I used boneless pork loin and browned it in the pot first.
• Instead of wine (which I didn't have) I used water and Chicken Better Than Bullion.
• The sauce/broth was clear, so I added an 8 oz can of tomato sauce towards the end of cooking.
• I also chose to add a can of rinsed cannelini beans. Sweet potatoes would be good in this dish too.
• I forgot to add the parsley and thought I'd skip the Parm calories...
• This is a very nice, easy, long cooking meal. I would make it again!

Have a happy day:@)