© J Sainsbury plc 2020
Smoky Spanish braised pork cheeks with beans
Never tried pork cheeks before? This alternative cut is great for those on a budget and tastes amazing from the slow cooker. You can also use pork shoulder, which will fall apart much the same
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Ready in 6 hours 30 minutes
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Cooking time 6 hours 15 minutes
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Prep time 15 minutes
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Serves 4
Ingredients
- 700g pork cheeks, fat trimmed and cut into 4cm pieces
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 190ml olive oil spray
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 2 sticks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 300ml dry sherry
- 250ml chicken stock, made with ½ chicken stock cube
- 410g tin cannellini beans, drained
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
Method
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1
Season the flour with salt and pepper and toss the pork cheeks in the flour. Mist a large pan with spray oil over a medium/high heat and brown the pork cheeks all over (you might need to do this in two batches). Transfer to the slow cooker.
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2
Add the diced onion, carrot and celery to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until lightly brown and softened. Add the garlic, paprika and cumin and cook for 1 minute, then add the sherry. Scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the flavour and cook for 3 minutes until slightly reduced. Add this to the pork in the slow cooker with the stock, cannellini beans, thyme and bay leaf.
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3
Cook on low for 5 hours, until the pork is very tender, then remove the lid and turn up to high for 45 minutes to 1 hour to thicken, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir through the parsley and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.
