Pork Shoulder Ragu Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, then add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Stir in the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook the vegetables until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute, then add the wine and cook for another minute. Stir in the stock and bring sauce to a simmer. Add the pork and season with a pinch of ground cloves. When the sauce returns to a simmer add the milk and reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce mellow while you bring the water to boil for the pasta or polenta. Sauce may be made ahead and reheated over medium-low heat. Add a splash of stock or water to thin the sauce, if necessary. Serve the sauce tossed with pasta ribbons or atop creamy bowls of polenta and garnish with lots of cheese and parsley.

Steps:

• Dry the pork well and sprinkle it on all sides with 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt and the pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, brown the pork on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the pork to a plate and set aside. While the pork is browning, tie the thyme, rosemary and bay leaf into a bundle using butcher's twine.
• Once all of the pork has been browned, reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil no oil remains in the pot. Add the onions and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine and cook until reduced to nearly dry, 6 to 10 minutes. Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, Parmesan rind, chile flakes and the herb bundle and bring to a simmer. Return the pork to the pot, tucking it in under the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the pork is fork tender, about 1 hour 45 minutes.
• Remove the pork and shred into bite-size pieces using two forks. Remove the herb bundle from the sauce and add the pork back to the pot. Stir in the olive oil and half of the grated Parmesan. Keep warm over low heat.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne for about 1 or 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain and add the pasta to the sauce, tossing to coat. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce, about 2 minutes, adding a ladle of pasta water as needed. Serve topped with the remaining grated Parmesan, or more as desired, and a drizzle of olive oil. Garnish with a few leaves of baby arugula, if using.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225°F. Place pork shoulder, fat side down, on a cutting board with a short end facing you. Holding a long, sharp knife about 1" above cutting board, make a shallow cut along the entire length of a long side of roast. Continue cutting deeper into the roast, lifting and unfurling meat with your free hand, until it lies flat (be careful not to cut all the way through). Season generously on both sides with salt.
• Mix eggs, chopped garlic, panko, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and 3 oz. Parmesan in a medium bowl. Keeping fattier side of pork shoulder facing downward, smear filling all over top side. Roll up roast and tie closed in 3-4 places with kitchen twine.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Sear pork roast until browned all over, 10-12 minutes total. Arrange tomatoes and their juices and sliced garlic all around roast and bring to a simmer. Make sure roast is turned fat side up, cover pot, and transfer to oven. Roast until a skewer easily passes through meat (a thermometer inserted into the center should register 200-205°F), 4-5 hours. Keep covered and let rest in pot 30 minutes.
• Transfer pork roast to a cutting board and remove kitchen twine. Gently mash sauce in pot with a spoon or a potato masher (simmer it gently to thicken, if desired). Taste ragù and season with salt if needed. Slice pork 1" thick.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; drain.
• Spoon pasta into a serving dish and top with some ragù; toss to coat. Sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan. Transfer pork to a platter; spoon remaining ragù over.
• Do Ahead
• Pork can be stuffed and rolled 2 days before roasting; cover and chill. Pork can be roasted 3 days ahead; let cool, then cover and chill. Reheat gently in sauce before serving.

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.)

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.

Steps:

• Season pork with the rosemary, thyme, pepper, and salt. Heat oil in a large large Dutch over over medium-high heat. Sear pork in the hot oil until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Stir onion and carrot into pot; cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour in the wine; stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomatoes and stock. Bring to a simmer; cook until meat is very tender and the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, remove the thick skin from the pork, leaving a sheen of fat on top of the meat. Season aggressively with salt and place in the refrigerator until ready to use, as long as overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a deep saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When it shimmers, gently cook the onion, celery and fennel until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Rinse pork to remove excess salt, dry with a paper towel and add to seasoned broth. Cover and place in the oven for 90 minutes or more, until the meat just begins to pull away from the bone.
• Allow both meat and broth to cool on the stove top for 30 minutes, or until you can touch the meat with your hands. Remove the pork and gently pull the meat from the bone, then tear the chunks into bite-size shreds. Place these in a large bowl.
• Strain the liquid into a separate bowl and then pour enough of it over the meat to barely cover. (Use the rest for soup.) Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Put a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.
• Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add the pork and braising liquid. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the butter and stir to emulsify.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water according to the directions on the package, 10 to 12 minutes. When it is finished, drain and add to the sauce along with a splash of pasta water. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the lemon juice, half of the cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil and the parsley. Stir to incorporate.
• Serve immediately, topped with arugula and the remaining cheese.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, 20 minutes. Add fennel seeds and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook until almost completely evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add pork and broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 8 minutes. Serve over polenta, grits, or mashed potatoes and top with parsley if desired.