This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
This is an easy one pot recipe that goes down a storm and so it’s a great choice as the main dish for gathering of family and/or friends. I know from experience that this melt in the mouth Normandy Pork casserole (a recipe I tweaked from one I found in Woman & Home magazine) will sit in the oven for ages without spoiling…
Normandy Pork Casserole
Course: Main MealsDifficulty: Easy10
servings2
hours30
minutesEasily halved if there are 4 - 6 of you eating.
Ingredients
100g butter
Olive oil
2kg shoulder of free-range British pork, cubed
400g (14oz) lardons or chunky streaky bacon, chopped
32 shallots, peeled and left whole
2 small onion, chopped
4 celery sticks, chopped
1 litre dry cider
200ml chicken stock
8 tbsp single cream
4tbsp cornflour mixed with 2tbsp water
4tbsp wholegrain mustard
4tbsp fresh tarragon leaves
Directions
- Heat the oven to 170 C, 150 C fan, 325 F, gas 3.
- You will need a large, flameproof casserole dish. Put half butter and drizzle of olive oil (to stop butter burning) with half the cubed pork, season and fry for about 10 minutes until thoroughly browned. Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the rest of the butter to the casserole and fry the rest of the pork for 10 minutes until evenly browned.
- Meanwhile, in another pan, dry-fry the bacon until crispy. Remove, set aside, then fry the shallots, onion and celery for a few minutes, to soften slightly.
- Combine all the pork, the lardons, shallots, onion and celery in the casserole. Pour over the cider and chicken stock to cover. Cover the dish and cook in the oven for 2 hours until the pork is tender. NOTE: At this stage you can cool, chill and freeze the casserole for up to three months.
- Add the cream, cornflour mix, mustard and tarragon to the pan. Heat on the hob and stir until the sauce has thickened slightly.
- Serve with baked potatoes and a lovely dark green steamed vegetable like cavolo nero or purple sprouting broccoli.
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