Meh- winter! It's dark, cold, and the snow is here. Christmas is rapidly becoming a distant memory with summer nowhere in sight. But there a saviour of winter; namely hearty rib-sticking slow cooked meals. Meals that simmer, blurp and plop for hours on end filling your home with the olfactic stimulation of coziness and warmth while making you salivate with anticipation. Peposo is just that.
Peposo is an Italian stew hailing from Impruneta, a town near Florence. Typically peposo is made with beef, but the preparation works really well with pork. Peposo Pork is a perfect meal for when you need to warm your toes with a belly full of heat. It's a zesty peppery meal that can easily match any chili con carne out there.
I've garnished the Peposo Pork with a Gremolata, which brings a little bit of sunshine and freshness to the dish with it's citrus and grassy green notes.
Serve the Peposo with anything starchy from a soft polenta to mashed potatoes to soak up the sauce.
Peposo Pork with Gremolata
1kg (or so) of pork shoulder or leg cut into large chunks. (I used an 'Osso Bocco' Cut of Pork Leg)10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tbs black peppercorns crushed in a spice mill or mortar & pestle. (If you are frightened from heat then reduce this amount by a third)
2 400g cans chopped tomatoes
4 bay leaves
good pinch of coarse sea salt
1 bottle (750 ml) Chianti or similar dry red wine
small bunch of parsley
zest from a lemon
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbs of olive oil.
Preheat oven to 125C (250f)
Scatter the cloves of garlic over the bottom of a heavy bottomed roasting pan. Pick a pan that will take the heat on the stove top. Add the pork to the pan. Sprinkle the pepper over the pork. Cover with the chopped tomatoes and top up with enough water to come half way up the meat. Place the bay leaves in the tomatoes. Cover loosely with foil. Place in the oven and cook for 4-5 hours until the pork is almost falling apart.
Remove from the over and put the pan on the stove over a fairly high heat. Add the Chianti to the pan. Let the sauce simmer while basting and turning the meat to glaze until till thick. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning.
While the sauce is thickening, make the gremolata. Place the parsley, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Processes till it becomes a chunky salsa-like sauce.
Serve with soft polenta and gremolata.
As with most stews and braised meats Peposo improves with time. if you can, make it the day ahead and reheat it come serving time.
