No kidding, this is a pretty special recipe. Pork shoulder, cooked down slowly with bacon, red wine, garlic and fennel seeds; and served with perfectly al dente pasta. Aromatic, herby and wonderfully rich, this is a fabulous family dish, but also impressive enough to serve at an informal dinner party.
If you love a deep garlic flavor, then add a couple more cloves, and feel free to use your favorite short pasta shape in place of the rigatoni.
Ingredients:2 1/2 lb pork shoulder
8 oz chopped bacon
1 cup onion, chopped
2 tbsp garlic, chopped
1 cup red wine
2 cans (400 g each) diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Kosher salt, to taste
Ground pepper, to taste
1 lb rigatoni, cooked as per pack instructions
Instructions:1. Place the pork, bacon, onion, garlic, red wine, tomatoes, fennel, bay leaves, thyme and pepper flakes into the slow cooker and set to cook for 8 - 10 hours on low.
2. Once the cooking time is over, remove the bay leaves and shred the pork in the cooking juices, before seasoning and stirring the cooked rigatoni into the meat mixture.
Serve immediately with a dish of grated Parmesan cheese and warm garlic bread for a fabulous Italian feast. You could even try layering any leftover meat with pasta sheets and
béchamel sauce then baking at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through. In fact, this might even be worth making extra for!
