Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas with Sugar Snap Pea, Walnut & Spring Onion Pesto.
Yes, you heard right, pork. I know, not a favourite meat of mine, too prone to over cooking and drying out for my liking, but not this dish.
Pork shoulder, in my opinion a very underrated cut of meat and very economical too. So, perfect for me.
I do like a bit of moist, and this dish is all about flavour, juice and getting your hands around the wrap of your choice and going for it.
I love to make a pesto, of any sort of pesto is perfect for me.
Once I’ve made a batch, I keep it in the fridge and use it, well, on pretty much anything I can. When I say anything, I’m really not kidding.
Add a layer to Sandwiches for extra flavour and moist layer or tasty.
Transform pasta into something special by adding a couple of spoonful’s to a sauce or forget making a sauce and just mix it straight into the pasta.
Like pizzas?
A home-made pesto makes a great base for all your favourite toppings (Are you part of the pineapple debate?).
Let’s not forget to add it to soups.
Yup, I did say soups. Mix it in right at the end, just before serving and you’ll up the flavour by 100%.
Tell me how you like to use your pesto?
I’ve used walnuts in this one, but recipes often call for pine nuts, which I love, love, love, but aren’t the cheapest of nuts to buy, especially of you need more than a handful in a dish.
As I’ve always got a bag or two of walnuts, that’s what my hand went for.
I’m a bit of a walnut lover, and spent most of my first pregnancy with a bag of unshelled nuts in my hand.
At the time (long, long time ago), when Kylie & Jason were and item on neighbours, I used to put my swollen ankles up on the sofa, sit back and crack my way through a brown paper bag of walnuts I bought loose, from the corner grocer each morning on my meander around the streets of Kingston Upon Thames where I used to live.
You could say that I was nutty about walnuts! Groan
Not the lovely Mr G, he’s more of an almond man.
In smoothies and as a snack, so we always have a draw with both of types of nuts at our finger tips.
So, what I’m saying is, use what you like or what you have available.
Go on, give it a go.
Enjoy your sweet life!
Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas with Sugar Snap Pea, Walnut & Spring Onion Pesto.
Wrap it up, layer it up with pesto, cabbage , the moist pork and get it in my mouth
What You Need
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, rind removed, cut into cubes approximately 2-inch cubes – See Tip Box
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice
1 Large Orange – Juice & Orange kept
1 Large onion, skin removed and cut in half.
8 Garlic Cloves - peeled
1 tbsp Malden salt
1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 Bay Leaves
120 ml olive oil
In the pot, ready for the oven
How It’s Done
Carnitas
Heat the oven to 200c
Get your hands on a deep oven proof pot with lid.
Add all of the ingredients to the pot including the orange juice and the rest of the orange-See Tip Box
Put the lid on and put it in the oven for 1 hour at 200c.
Reduce the heat to 140c and cook for a further 3 hours.
Check on it every hour just to make sure it doesn’t go dry and to give it a bit of a stir–See Tip Box
Cook until the meat starts to fall apart and is moist and tender.
Once cooked, remove from the oven, spoon out the meat into an oven proof dish.
Break up the meat with a couple of forks and spread it out. Add 4 tablespoons of the liquid to the dish and put under a hot grill until the top layer is a nice deep brown. - See Tip Box
Remove from the heat and serve.
After a lonnng cook. Pork, cooked long so the sauce is reduced and the pork is fork tender.
Tip Box
Orange – All of the orange is used in this recipe. Squeeze out the juice and keep everything else that’s left. Add the leftovers and the juice to the pot for extra flavour.
Cooking The Meat – If the liquid looks as if it’s getting a little dry, add a little water and give it a stir. Don’t add too much, as the aim is to reduce the liquid to intensify the liquid.
Liquid – Don’t throw away any of the leftover sauce, keep some stored in the fridge for the next day in case you have any leftovers you want to re-heat. If you do, add more of the sauce to the dish, cover in foil and place in a hot oven until the pork is piping hot all the way through.
Sugar Snap Pea, Walnut & Spring Onion Pesto
Whizz it all up and your left with this tasty magic
What You Need
1 Bunch of Spring Onions – trimmed and cleaned
1 Pack of Sugar Snap Peas
1 Green Chili – See Tip Box
150 gm Parmesan – Grated or cut into small pieces.
1 Bunch Fresh Parsley
1 Bunch Fresh Coriander – See Tip Box
Malden salt - to taste – See Tip Box
Fresh ground black pepper – to taste
200g Walnuts
1 Bag of Ready to Eat Watercress – See Tip Box
120ml Olive Oil – (you may more) See Tip Box
All about the green for this pesto
How It’s Done
Put all of the ingredients (except the salt and pepper) into a blender and blend until you have the correct consistency.
You may need to add a little more olive oil, but do this in small amounts so that you don’t overdo it.
Taste and add salt and pepper if you need to.
The perfect match for your wrap
Tip Box
Coriander – I have Vietnamese coriander growing in my herb box, so I used that, but if you can only get your hands in ordinary coriander, use that.
Salt – I didn’t add any salt to the mix and just relied in the saltiness of the parmesan. That’s just my taste. Just remember that you can always add more but you can’t take it out.
Watercress – Even though the watercress bag says that its ready to eat, make sure that’s its thoroughly cleaned.
Olive Oil – Start with 120ml olive oil, but you may have to add more to get the correct consistency – a smooth spreadable paste.
