Pork and beans
for 4 people
Rich belly pork gives flavour to the beans as it cooks slowly and melts to form a satisfying jus in this simple dish. You’ll need to begin this recipe the day before by soaking the beans. You could also cook this in a crock pot — add all the ingredients from step 2, cover and cook for 6-7 hours.
Ingredients
| 200 g | Cannellini beans, dried, soaked in cold water overnight (Main) |
| 2 Tbsp | Olive oil |
| ½ | Onions, diced |
| 1 small | Carrot, diced |
| 1 stalk | Celery, diced |
| 3 tsp | Garlic, grated |
| 1 Tbsp | Tomato paste |
| ¼ tsp | Chilli powder |
| 2 tsp | Thyme leaves, picked |
| 2 tsp | Sage leaves, chopped |
| 1 cup | Red wine |
| 2 cups | Chicken stock |
| 2 cups | Water |
| 700 g | Pork belly, cut into 2cm-thick slices (Main) |
| 1 Tbsp | Oregano leaves |
Directions
- Heat oven to 150C. Heat olive oil in a casserole over a medium heat, add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and gently fry for 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat. Add chilli, thyme, sage, wine, stock, water and drained beans. Stir to combine and bring up to the boil. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place pork belly on top of beans.
- Cover with a lid and place into oven. Cook for 3½-4 hours or until beans are tender.
- To serve, spoon beans into bowls and arrange pork belly on top, sprinkle with oregano and drizzle with extra olive oil.