Winter Pork Stew

A few days ago I had plans to cook a Boston butt for a friend (of course, it was going to be a Prairie Fresh Pork Butt.)  Well, plans get changed as they had to go out of town.  A cold snap had developed, and I love comfort food in the cold weather, so I made this winter pork stew recipe.  It was so silky, flavorful and satisfying.  I just love making it.

Comfort food = braising

I have kind of gravitated to braising when I’m looking for that food hug that helps get through the chilly nights.  Braising turns tough meat into delicious, moist meat, just like a low-and-slow BBQ will do.  Using tough pieces of meat, braising and smoking break down the connective tissue and collagens in the meat to give you that tender, supple texture and flavor that we all love.

Red wine for winter

Another thing that makes this a favorite is I love foods cooked with red wine.  I call for half a bottle for this recipe, which should really leave you two nice glasses of wine for yourself!  And, don’t go cheap on cooking wine- if you wouldn’t drink a glass of it, you shouldn’t cook with it either.  I have really grown to love Italian wines, and a Rosso Toscana, a rustic chianti or similar full-bodied Italian red, will work well in this dish.

Easy to make

This is really a dish that will take you a few minutes to prep the veggies, a few minutes to start the cooking, then a long time of smelling a wonderful aroma.  It’s very easy, and similar in procedure and process to other braised beef dishes.  Flour and brown the pork, cook down some veggies, add tomato paste, deglaze with wine, then braise.  The time it will take you from start to getting it in the oven will be around 20-30 minutes, depending on how quick you are with a knife.  After that, it’s simply waiting for that tenderness to get there, about 3 to 3.5 hours.

As always, I hope you enjoy!

For some other great comfort dishes, check out my Beef Bourguignon recipe or Bone-in Pork Loin with Smoked Cherry sauce!

Winter Pork Stew

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• Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes
• Yield: 6 people 1x

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Description

Turn a boston butt into an amazingly flavorful and hearty stew for those chilly nights ahead.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 lbs boston butt, trimmed and cut into small pieces
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1/2 btl good red wine
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cooking oil, divided
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 TBS tomato paste
• 2 TBS salt
• 1 TBS pepper
• 1 TBS Hungarian paprika
• 1 cup cooked egg noodles, per person
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 stems italian parsley
• 4 sprigs thyme

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a dutch oven, heat 1/2 of oil. Working in batches, lightly flour pork pieces then brown. Remove and set aside. Use remaining oil as needed.
2. Add onions, celery, carrots and bell pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until getting soft and translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add tomato paste and bay leaves and cook for 4 minutes. Deglaze pan with red wine and cook until reduced by half.
3. Add pork back to pan along with salt, pepper and paprika. Tie parsley and thyme together and add to pot. Add beef stock, and water if necessary to get liquid to top level of pork. Place in oven and cook for 3 hours or until super tender. Remove, adjust seasonings, and serve over egg noodles.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
• Category: Main Course

Keywords: braised, comfort food, pork, red wine, stew