Slow Cookin': Pork and Lemon Ragu with Spelt Pasta

I haven't cook pork for a while (ok, maybe except for bacon!). I think I only part of the pork that I've cooked with was the belly. Other parts are just tough and dry. This afternoon though, I'm determined to make this pork and lemon ragu. I've had this recipe from Donna Hay for so long but I didn't get the chance to try it out. Until today and oh, boy! It was delicious! I sort of skipped a lot of steps in the original Donna Hay recipe from the same season last year. I didn't make the crispy sage at all and I added my own combination of herbs and spices that I liked. Don't worry, it still turned out well. I added spelt pasta because I wanted some sort of carb into it. 
Pork and Lemon Ragu
Adapted from Donna Hay magazine, Issue 68, April/May 2013

Ingredients:
500g cubed pork shoulder
1 brown onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup of white wine
1 liter vegetable or chicken stock (sorry, I used the Master Stock package by mistake!)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1 zest and juice of lemon
1 cup spelt paste (optional)
1 cup silverbeet, chopped (optional and you can use any other green leafy, I think cabbage would be good too)
salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 160C. In a casserole pot, brown the pork shoulder cubes on all sides. Set aside.
In the same pot, brown the onions first, followed by the garlic for a 2 minutes. Add the wine, canned tomatoes and stock and simmer for 2 minutes. Add all the spices and lemon juice except the lemon zest.
Bring to a boil then slip into the oven to cook for 1 to 1.5 hours or until tender. Mine took about an hour. Then put the pot back to the stove top and add the spelt paste (if using). Cook and continue stirring for about 10-11 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the silverbeet on the last 3 minutes of cooking time then stir in the lemon zest. Enjoy!







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