orecchiette con spalla di maiale e melanzane
orecchiette with pork shoulder and melanzane
Another great orecchiette-based oil recipe, showing how amazingly flexible orecchiette are. As a general rule of thumb, you could easily experiment and combine almost any meat and any vegetable until you find the taste combination that you like. To tell the truth, when I cooked this recipe I'd got a bit sick of using sausage meat as a meat ingredient so I went for the next best thing - pork shoulder. It's a great, self-basting cut of pig which is incredibly forgiving to cook and delicious to eat!
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
slice and salt aubergines (60-120 mins)
cook the aubergines
fry some sage leaves
cook the meat
boil and cook the pasta
cut the meat and re-fry
combine pasta and ingredients
orecchiette with pork shoulder and melanzane
INGREDIENTS
FOR FOUR PEOPLE
2 large aubergines
4 pork shoulder steaks
garlic
bay leaves / sage leaves
white wine
cayenne pepper
PASTA
400g fresh orecchiette (Martimucci)
MANTECATURE (?)
minimal
METHOD
This one needs a little more planning and thinking ahead time as we'll be taking the traditional 'salt the aubergines' route. If you haven't read about that in any of the other recipes yet, that involves cutting the melanzane up and sprinkling them with salt, and then leaving them to lose water for an hour or so before cooking.
In the old days and with older varieties of aubergine, this was a way of reducing the bitter flavour of the vegetable. I've also heard that it reduces the absorption of fat, but that's far too science for me. Anyway, begin by doing just that, discarding the aubergine juice every so often. Rinse them quickly when they're done and then pat them dry, before cutting into cubes.
Gently fry some fresh sage leaves, being careful not to burn them. Set them aside on some kitchen roll. In one pan, fry the melanzane in some EVO, a whole clove of garlic and a sprig of rosemary. In another fry the pork shoulder with a splash of white wine. Cook the melanzane until tender , but don't burn them. Remove the rosemary. Cook the pork shoulder until medium-cooked, then take it off the heat and allow it to rest while you boil and cook the pasta.
Chop the pork into strips and then return it to a frying pan on a high heat, perhaps with some fresh bay leaves, allowing the meat to crisp slightly and render as much of the remaining fat as possible. When the pasta is just past al dente, add it to a pan with the melanzane, a splash of cooking water, and toss to combine. Throw in the pieces of pork, toss again and then plate.
NUTRITION per serving
KCAL: we're working on it!
Fat (g): TBC
Sat Fat (g): TBC
Carb (g): TBC
Sug (g): TBC
Fibre(g): TBC
Prot (g): TBC
Salt (g): TBC
Nutritional information is provided as an indication only of approximate values for the recipe on this page. You should make your own calculations if you have specific dietry requirements or are required to follow a strict calorie-controlled diet.
