Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Pork Roast with beans.

Friday, December 1, 2023

Braised Pork Roast with White Beans from Vicki Delany

This is a truly tummy-warming mid-winter meal. I love beans and in this dish you get a lot of them. The recipe is large – feeds eight people, but if you’re not having that many, I find it freezes well to provide delicious dinners over the winter. Best served with a hearty vegetable, as the delicata squash shown below.

As an added bonus, pork roasts are inexpensive and can often be found on sale. You want to be sure to use one with bone in.

Braised Pork Roast with White Beans

Ingredients:

2 cups white beans

4 lbs pork shoulder picnic roast

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion peeled and chopped

5 cloves garlic minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

Instructions:

Rinse and soak beans overnight in three times their volume of water.

The next day, rinse beans again. Add to a saucepan, cover beans again with three times their volume of water and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Drain, reserving 2-1/2 cups of the cooking liquid.

Sprinkle pork all over with salt and pepper. In Dutch oven or large heavy skillet, heat oil over high heat; brown pork all over. Transfer to plate. Drain off all but 1 tbsp of the fat.

Add onion and cook over medium heat until softened and light golden, about 8 minutes.

Stir in garlic, thyme, oregano and bay leaf; cook for 2 minutes.

Add beans to pan. Return pork and any juices to pan. Add reserved bean cooking liquid; bring to boil.

Cover and roast in 350°F (180°C) oven for 2-1/2 hours. Uncover; roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Transfer pork to cutting board; slice. Season beans with more salt and pepper (if desired). Discard bay leaf.