Italian Braised Pork With Polenta Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Liberally season all sides of the shanks with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the pan and sear the shanks until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes a side. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven, then add the carrots, celery and onions. Season with salt and pepper and saute until the vegetables are slightly soft and browned, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 second. Add the wine to deglaze, scraping all the bits off the bottom. Add the shanks, any accumulated juices, the warm stock, tomatoes and bay leaves. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook until the shanks are extremely fork-tender, about 2 hours. Remove the shanks and tent with foil on a plate.
• If the braising liquid is a bit thin, right before serving, simmer the remaining liquid until thickened slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
• For each serving, put a ladle of Creamy Polenta in a shallow bowl, followed by a warm shank with a ladle of rich braising liquid, then top with the fresh Gremolata.
• Bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pour the cornmeal into the water in a very slow stream from a measuring cup, all the while whisking in a circular motion to prevent lumps.
• Cover and cook, vigorously stirring the polenta with a wooden spoon for about 10 seconds once every 5 minutes and making sure to scrape clean the bottom and corners of the pot, until the polenta has lost its raw cornmeal taste and becomes soft and smooth, about 30 minutes. Stir in the cream, butter, cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix the parsley, lemon zest, orange zest and garlic together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season pork with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, celery, and fennel seeds to pan; cook until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker along with tomatoes. Cover and cook on high until pork is very tender, 4 hours (or 8 hours on low).
• Transfer pork to a cutting board. With 2 forks, shred meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Skim fat off sauce and discard. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and stir to combine. (To store: Cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days.) Serve over couscous.

Steps:

• Make polenta:
• In a heavy saucepan bring water and salt to a boil and gradually whisk in cornmeal in a thin stream. Cook polenta over moderately low heat (it should be barely boiling), stirring constantly, until very thick and pulls away from side of pan, about 40 minutes for cornmeal and about 15 minutes for instant polenta. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm. Stir polenta just before using. Polenta will keep warm, covered, about 20 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
• Note: In the traditional method of cooking polenta, forty minutes of constant stirring is required to achieve a lumpless texture and fragrant flavor. However, Italian-food expert Marcella Hazan has developed a method that involves very little stirring during this time. We believe it produces a very good polenta, one nearly as flavorful and smooth as the traditional procedure. To make satisfactory polenta in a real hurry, an imported instant polenta (precooked cornmeal) is available. This cooks in a mere fifteen minutes.
• On a lightly oiled large baking sheet spread warm polenta into a 15- by 12-inch rectangle (about 1/2 inch thick) and cool to room temperature. Polenta may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Make filling:
• Pat pork dry and season with salt. In a heavy 7- to 8-quart kettle heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown pork in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a bowl. In fat remaining in kettle sauté onion and celery, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Add garlic and rosemary and sauté, stirring, 1 minute. Return pork to kettle and add tomatoes with juice and 2 cups water. Simmer mixture, covered, 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
• Transfer pork to a cutting board to cool. In a small bowl stir together flour and remaining 3 tablespoons water and whisk into liquid remaining in kettle. Discard bones and fat from pork and chop meat. Add pork and tomato paste to kettle, stirring, and simmer until filling is reduced to about 6 cups. Filling may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Make béchamel sauce:
• In a small saucepan heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 1 minute and add milk in a stream, whisking. Simmer béchamel sauce, whisking, until smooth and thickened slightly, about 2 minutes, and season with salt.
• Cut polenta into 3-inch squares. In a 3-quart shallow baking dish spoon half of filling and top with half of polenta squares. Repeat layering with remaining filling and polenta squares and spread béchamel sauce over top to cover completely. Sprinkle cheese over béchamel sauce and bake, uncovered, 45 minutes, or until heated through and top is golden.