Slow Cooker Pork Puttanesca Ragu Food

SLOW-COOKER PORK RAGU

Steps:

• Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
• In 5-quart Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp. With slotted spoon, remove bacon to small bowl.
• Season pork with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Add half of the pork to bacon drippings in Dutch oven, and cook 4 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned. With slotted spoon, remove pork from Dutch oven to slow cooker. Repeat with remaining pork.
• Add onions, carrots, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to Dutch oven; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Stir in garlic and oregano; cook 30 seconds. Add broth; heat to simmering, stirring to remove brown bits on bottom. Transfer mixture to slow cooker with pork. Stir in tomatoes and bacon.
• Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until pork is tender and easily falls apart. Before serving, shred pork with two forks. Serve over cooked pasta. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh herbs.

SLOW COOKER PORK PUTTANESCA RAGU

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife trim excess fat from pork shoulder and discard. Cut pork into 4 chunks, making the pieces as even as possible. Liberally salt the pork chunks on all sides. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat, and then working in batches if necessary, brown pork on all sides. This will take about 5 minutes per side and you will know a side is sufficiently browned when it easily releases from the pan. Move browned pork to the slow cooker.
• Heat the skillet/Dutch oven to medium, stir together the garlic and the anchovies (and about a tablespoon of olive oil if there isn't enough fat left in the skillet from browning the pork) until anchovies melt, garlic softens and the mixture becomes fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and continue stirring for another 2-3minutes until the color of the tomato paste becomes a very deep ruby red and all the brown bits from the pork have released from the pan. Turn off the heat and add the olives, capers, vinegar, red pepper flakes, oregano and freshly ground pepper. Slather this sauce over each of the pork pieces.
• Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours. The sauce will become a rich red color and the meat will be fork tender. Remove meat to a cutting board and using two forks shred meat. Return to slow cooker, add tomatoes and heat through, about 10 -15 minutes more.
• Just before serving squeeze lemon over ragu for some added brightness. I like to serve on Creamy Polenta, garnish with fresh parsley and plenty of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

PRESSURE COOKER PORK PUTTANESCA RAGù

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim and discard the large pieces of fat from the pork shoulder, then cut the meat into 4 or 5 large chunks. Place the pork in a bowl and season it generously with salt and pepper.
• Using the sauté setting, heat the olive oil in a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until fragrant and slightly darkened in color, about 2 minutes. (If it looks like it's getting too dark, or you get a warning on the display, turn off the heat while cooking the tomato paste. Turn the heat back on when you add the wine.)
• Stir in the olives, capers, vinegar, red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. (Do not add more salt at this point; anchovies, olives and capers can be quite salty.) Stir in the wine, 2 cups water and the tomatoes with their juices, crushing the tomatoes with your hands if using whole. Turn off the sauté setting and stir in the pork. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 80 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid. Carefully transfer the pork to a medium bowl, and coarsely shred. Using the sauté setting, let the ragù simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Skim the excess fat, if desired. Add the shredded meat back to the pot, then add the lemon juice and parsley and gently stir to combine. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes or salt if necessary. Serve the ragù over polenta or sturdy pasta, like rigatoni or pappardelle. Top with Parmesan, to taste.

SLOW COOKER PORK PUTTANESCA RAGù

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim and discard the large hunks of fat from the pork shoulder then cut the meat into 4 even pieces. Season the pork generously on all sides with salt. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in two batches if necessary, brown the pork on two sides, about 5 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the pork to a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker.
• Add the garlic and anchovies to the skillet, along with more oil if needed, and cook over medium, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until fragrant and slightly darkened in color, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the olives, capers, vinegar, red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. (Do not add more salt at this point because anchovies, olives and capers can be quite salty.) Scrape the mixture into the slow cooker with the pork and stir until combined.
• Cover the slow cooker and cook on low until the pork is fork-tender and the sauce deepens in color, about 10 hours.
• Using two forks, coarsely shred the pork. Pour the can of tomatoes and juices into the slow cooker, crushing the tomatoes with your hands, if using whole. Add the parsley and lemon juice. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes or salt if necessary.
• Serve the ragù over polenta or sturdy pasta, like rigatoni or pappardelle, topped with Parmesan to taste. (If serving the ragù with pasta, loosen the ragù with a bit of pasta cooking water, adding it spoonful by spoonful, to help the sauce coat the pasta.)