Not Just a Man's World

One of the most time-consuming parts of cooking casserole is chopping up the meat.  I find that the quality of the meat and the cost are both much better if I buy my pork joints whole and can spend a lot of time then chopping up a large amount of pork into suitable casserole chunks.

Eventually, the other week, my resolve broke and I decided to try making a casserole I already knew well but leaving the joint whole and not pre-browning it.  It worked surprisingly well, although I also made a few minor changes by increasing the leeks, omitting the coconut flour and increasing the curry powder.  See what you think.

Paleo slow cooked pork and leek

Ingredients (serves 4):

1kg pork shoulder joint, skin discarded
2 tsp curry powder
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tsp mixed herbs (or ¾ tsp parsley, ¾ tsp oregano and ½ tsp sage)

Directions:

1. Mix together the leeks, pepper, tomatoes and herbs in a large bowl and pour a third of this into the slow cooker.
2. Rub the curry powder all over the flesh of the pork joint with your fingers and place the joint in the slow cooker on top of the layer of leek and tomato.
3. Pour over the remaining leek mixture making sure it surrounds the joint and, as far as possible (depending on the size and shape of your slow cooker) covers the joint.
4. Cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low (or 5-6 hours on high).
5. When done the leeks will be thoroughly reduced down.  Break up the pork into large chunks in the slow cooker using forks and ladle out the casserole mix with the leek sauce mix.

Related posts:

1. Paleo recipes: slow-cooked coconut ginger pork
2. Paleo recipes: pork, mushroom and leek casserole
3. Paleo recipes: March pork casserole
4. Paleo recipes: Mexican pork (slow cooker)