Jay Rayner’s pork, chorizo and butter bean stew
Ingredients
- 1.5kg pork for braising, cut into rough 2.5cm cubes
- 6 cooking chorizo sausages piquancy to taste (three spicy and three mild can save the stew from blowing your socks off, and make it child friendly)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 750 ml chicken stock
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin butter beans
Method
- Use a deep casserole dish with a lid, and heat the oven to 150C/Gas 2. Slice the chorizo into half inch discs, putting a third of the slices to one side for later. In the casserole dish, sauté the chopped onion in olive oil until soft.
- Fry off two thirds of the chorizo with the softened onion, so that it caramelises and the orange, paprika-rich oil begins to run. Steal the occasional piece of chorizo while muttering ‘chef’s prerogative’ under your breath.
- When all the chorizo has been cooked, steal a couple more pieces, then add the pork in handfuls and brown it in the copper-coloured oil. It only needs to take on a little colour. As each batch is done, push it to the side to make space for the next until it has all been cooked through
- and mixed in with the onion and the chorizo.
- Add the tin of tomatoes and the jug of stock and mix in until the meat is completely submerged by the liquor.
- Put in the remaining discs of uncooked chorizo and stir in. Bring to a simmer. Strain the butter beans and add them too.
- Put on the lid, place in the oven, and don’t look at it for two hours.
- To check whether the stew is ready, fish out a piece of pork. It should come apart easily when tugged at with a couple of forks. If it’s not yet completely ready, just return to the oven for 20 mins and check again. If the liquor is a little thin, put the casserole back on the hob without the lid, bring to a gentle boil and reduce the sauce. The stew can easily be prepared ahead of time, and quickly reheated when you need it. Arguably it’s even better on day two, and it lends itself to being made in even larger volume.
