Winter Dinner —Pork Shoulder Ragu

This time of year, when I’m not working outside all day, I like to prep dinner in the late morning/early afternoon, chuck it in the oven, and forget about it for a few hours. This front-loads the work when the kids are a) still at school, or b) home but able to play without the decisive dad ref-ing that seems most in demand near the dinner hour. Then, when darkness falls so early in the evening and we all want to hunker down in front of the fireplace, a warm, hearty meal isn’t too far away.

When I asked Sarah for suggestions for a good pork shoulder recipe, she pointed me to Jenny Rosenstrach’s Dinner -A Love Story. Jenny’s Pork Shoulder Ragu with Pappardelle makes a wonderful winter meal. The recipe calls for 2-2-1/2 lbs of pork shoulder. Since I had a 3-1/2 lb shoulder, I diced up a softball-sized onion, and topped the meat with plenty of wine. That’s the beauty of braising —you add enough liquid to keep the meat moist and it’s hard to screw up. I put everything in the oven, and then made lunch for the kids.

Recipe here

Three hours later, I pulled the roast and let cool in to pot on the stovetop. The recipe has you pull shredding the meat with two forks while it’s still hot, but if you want juicier pork, let the meat cool enough to touch it and it will absorb more of the liquid. I prefer to shred the meat (it mostly falls apart on its own) and let it sit in the liquid for a while before serving. Dishes like this are even better if you refrigerate them overnight and reheat them to eat the next day.

At 5 pm, I put on water on to boil for pasta and warmed up the meat—still in the pot—on the stove.

It’s not often that I impress my wife and kids with my cooking, but this dish got compliments all around. Our son, Karsten, has two smiles—the I’m-completely-full-of-it-but-let’s-all-pretend-I’m-not smile and the earnest smile. He’s also our family’s picky eater (this is relative, my kids eat braunschweiger).  
 “Dad, this isn’t good,” he said, pausing with the facetious smile. “This is fabulous.”
Fabulous was a little over-the-top, but he kept nodding with the earnest smile.