Slow Cooker Pork Ragu Food

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.)

SLOW COOKER RAGU

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute for 1 minute just to soften. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper cooking for about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and thyme and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Deglaze with the beef broth using a wooden spoon to pull up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
• Carefully transfer mixture to the slow cooker. Stir in the canned tomatoes. Mix the pork and sirloin together in a separate bowl, using your hands, until combined. Stir the meat into the slow cooker, spreading out evenly and avoiding any large clumps. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours. During last two hours of cooking, add canned carrots and mushrooms to ragu. Skim the accumulated grease from the top before serving.
• Serve over pasta with crusty bread for soaking up the sauce.