Pork & Fennel Bianco Ragu Two Ways over Two Days

by Jessica Nguyen

This recipe is inspired by two Italian recipes Maiale al Latte- Pork in Milk and Finnochio con Latte al Forno- Fennel baked in Milk, but I’ve blended the two and created an easy ‘one pot throw it all in and slow cook it’ version. 
Using milk as the main ingredient to slow cook the shoulder gives makes the meat rich and tender in the same way you would with wine or stock, but you get this gorgeous and creamy sauce that during the cook splits and looks like you’ve ruined the dish, but with the magic of an immersion blender, you whizz it all up and get this thick and creamy sauce that you can either serve with chunks of pork a top some cheesy polenta or shred the meat and turn it into a ragu pasta that I served with mafaldine.
 

Day 1: Pork & Fennel Bianco Ragu with Cheesy Polenta

 

Serves- 8

Ingredients- 13

Cooking Time- 20 minutes prep, 2.5 hours slow cooking in oven

Skill Level- Easy


Ingredients


Ragu

2kg pork shoulder boneless

Generous pinch of salt, to sprinkle on the pork

Generous pinch of fennel seeds

1 whole fennel bulb- stalks finely chopped and heart cut into eighths

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped, optional (Not necessary as you already have fennel stalks but I added this in as I had some in the fridge when I made this)

1 onion, peel and halved

1 garlic bulb, halved

1 litre of milk

500ml chicken stock

1 parmesan rind, optional

Sprigs of sage, rosemary and/or thyme, optional

4 bay leaves

A few stalks of flat parsley, finely chopped for garnishing


Polenta

1-2 cups of polenta, 

3-4 cups of chicken stock or water

Dash of milk, optional

1 cup of parmigiano reggiano, microplaned. Optional but it does make the polenta tastier. Add more to your liking.



Method

  1. Heat a large dutch oven with some oil. Salt the pork and brown on each side for about 5 minutes until golden on all sides. Allow some of the fat from the skin to render out.
  2. Remove and add the fennels seeds, frying for a 10-15 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add fennel stalks and optional celery and saute for a few minutes.
  4. Pour in a ladle or so of chicken stock or wine to deglaze the pot.
  5. Pour in milk and chicken stock then add the pork back into the pot.
  6. Add in garlic, onions, herbs, parmesan rind, salt, bay leaves.
  7. Place into oven for 1 hour at 150 degrees.
  8. Pull out of the oven and then turn the pork and add in the fennel bulbs.
  9. Cook for another 1-1.5 hours or until the pork is tender. At this point, it will look as though the milk has spilt and whilst it has, trust the process because it’s meant to be this way.
  10. Remove pork and fennel and set aside. Remove, parmesan rind, bay leaves, and any other stalks or bits you don’t want to be part of the sauce. Use an immersion blender to blitz into a creamy sauce. Season to taste with salt.
  11. Place the pork back into the pot to keep warm until you’re ready to serve.
  12. Cook the polenta as per the instructions. I normally heat my stock in a pan until boiling before slowly pouring in the polenta and stirring quickly to prevent lumps. I add in dashes of milk (optional) and stir in the cheese at the very end before serving immediately whilst hot.
  13. To serve, pull a few large chunks of pork and assemble on top of the cheesy polenta and pour a few ladies of the sauce on top. Garnish with some parsley and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestion

If you’re wanting to make some sides to accompany, I would recommend a fennel, radicchio and orange salad like this one, perfect for winter but also zingy enough to contrast the creamy and rich pork and polenta. I also roasted some parsnips to have on the side for this too, any roasted or grilled vegetables would be great like grilled broccolini or even roasted carrots and pumpkin.

Day 2 Recipe: Pork & Fennel Bianco Ragu Pasta

Serves- 2

Ingredients- 5

Cooking Time- 15 minutes

Skill Level- Easy


Ingredients

2 cups of the ragu you made above

200g of your choice of pasta (100g per person). I went with Malfaldine but you could use anything: Tagliatelle if you want long pasta or rigatoni if you want a tubular pasta.

3 stalks of flat parsley finely chopped

Generous pinch of white pepper

Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano to garnish


Method

  1. The next day, remove the pot of ragu from the fridge and heat until just about to boil before lowering to a slow simmer. Use two forks if you need to further pull apart the meat into smaller pieces.
  2. Meanwhile, boil your pasta until al dente.
  3. Heat a pan with oil and once hot, add the ragu mixture into the hot pan. Stir until it bubbles back to boiling point.
  4. Add your pasta to the pan with the ragu and gently toss to coat in the sauce. Add in ladles of pasta water to help bind the sauce.
  5. Scatter over parsley and pepper and cook for another minute so the pasta can absorb the ragu sauce and then plate.
  6. Top with the freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese and serve immediately.

To freeze leftovers

Allow the ragu to cool down before transferring to some freezer containers (1 use these 1 litre capacity containers that will serve two people). Label and date the containers and place into the freezer and consume within 3 months. When you want to eat this, fully defrost before heating in a pan until hot.

 

Watch the Process

 

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