RECIPES

LASAGNE

What a pleasure to come across a different way to make a lasagne and even better if it uses delicious Berkshire Pork as well as beef. We often make a big batch of sauce and freeze into portions then we can choose from spaghetti bolognaise or lasagne, what ever we fancy.

This recipe has been adapted from Jamie Olivers ‘Simple Baked Lasagna’ from Jamies Dinners cook book.

Serves 6-8
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled squished
  • 2 handfuls of fresh herbs (sage, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme)
  • olive oil
  • 500 g minced beef
  • 500g minced pork shoulder
  • 1 carton of good tomato passata
  • 2 glasses of red wine or water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 butternut squash, halved deseeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 tbls coriander seeds, bashed
  • 1 dried chilli, bashed
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 400g fresh lasagne sheets
  • 400g fresh mozzarella, torn up
For the white Sauce
  • 1 x 500ml tub of crème fraiche
  • 3 anchovies, finely chopped
  • 2 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • optional a little milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, gas 4.

In a large casserole type pan gently fry the onion, carrot, garlic and herbs in about 4 tbls of oil. Mix together then add the pork and beef. Cook for about 5 mins then add the tinned tomatoes, pasata and wine or water. Add the bay leaves and bring to the boil. Cover and place in the preheated oven for about 2 hours or simmer on the hob over a gentle heat for around an hour and a half.

Toss the butternut squash chunks in olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and the bashed coriander seeds and dried chilli. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for at least 45 minutes of your cooking time.

When the bolognaise sauce is done season with salt and pepper and pop to one side.

Mix together the crème fraiche, anchovies and a handful of Parmesan, and season with salt and pepper. If needed use a little milk to loosen the mixture.

Turn the oven to 200C, 400F, gas 6

To assemble the lasagne, rub the bottom of an earthenware lasagne dish with olive oil, lay some sheets of lasagne over the bottom and drape over the sides of the dish.

Add a layer of meat, a little white sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Add a layer of roasted butternut squash and then repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of pasta, fold in the pasta draped over the side of the dish and cover in white sauce.

Tear over the mozzarella and sprinkle with some extra Parmesan. Cook in the pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes

SPARE RIBS

Big Belly Spare Ribs, marinated in Adams rub from the US of A are just delicious but you can easily make your own rub. Any rub its basically made up of something salty, to draw the moisture out, something sweet to help along with the caramelising at the end of the cooking and to get that melt in the mouth moment and then any flavours you choose, experiment some ideas might be classic Chinese flavours like star anise and fennel, really fruity and deep. Or more traditional BBQ flavours with hickory, pepper and relish.

I like to marinade over night, the ones we did here were going to be a quick day marinade I prepared the day we went to do pork deliveries and we got so hungry by lunch time we ended up with fish and chips, yummy scrummy but too full for spare ribs for tea. Which didn’t bother me it meant they would stay in their marinade over night. I’ve even been known to pop them in a freezer bag with their marinade and then put them in the deep freeze. A fail safe way of having your ribs ready, especially with our wonderful British weather when BBQ is very much a last minute idea. All you have to do is remember to defrost and hey presto instant marinaded spare ribs ready to go!

The cooking

Low and slow. Whether you decide to do them outside on the grill or in a regular oven it is the only way to go. Turn the heat up at the end to get that gooey charred texture.

Sides to go with your spare ribs?

So these are some of our favourites...sweet potatoes, absolutely amazing with any pork dish and really healthy and easy to cook. Pop in the oven with the slightest coating of oil and cook on a fairly high temperature for about 15 minutes. .

Coleslaw….but with a twist, cabbage and fennel really fresh and cuts through the fat on the pork. Both these sides go really well with belly slices as well, which we often pass off as ribs when friends with the larger appetites are over. !

FENNEL SLAW

Serves 4-6
For the Salad
  • 1 tsp of fennel seeds
  • 200g white cabbage
  • 100g red cabbage
  • 100g fennel
  • 1 red onion
  • mixed handful of fresh herbs (coriander, parsley and mint)
  • 1 tsp Maldon Salt
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
  • 50ml cider vinegar
  • 50ml white wine vinegar
  • 35ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbls sugar
  • Juice and zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

Method

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved, and store in a sealed container. To do this I pop everything into a jam jar screw on the lid and give it a good shake.

Toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan until golden then set aside. Dry pan no oil!

Slice the cabbage, fennel and onion 1mm thick - the thinner the better. If you have a mandolin use it and slice your veg as thin as you can it really does make all the difference, the dressing soaks in much easier and gives a really slushy slaw that makes your mouth water.

Finely chop the herbs using a very sharp knife. Toss together with all the salad ingredients so that they are well combined and the herbs are evenly spread throughout. Again I put everything into a Tupperware pop the lid on and give it a really good shake. Hey presto herbs evenly spread through out

Shake up the dressing and 20minutes before serving add to the slaw. Toss thoroughly, check and adjust the seasoning.

ENJOY!

GOAN BERKSHIRE PORK VINDALOO

This is so nice I wish I could take all the credit for it but unfortunately not. I happened across it in Richard H Turners Hog book. I’ve tried it a couple of times first exactly as printed which was lovely so when I made it again I decided to make twice as much and just doubled all the ingredients. It was amazingly a hundred times better. I know they say if you want to increase the quantity of a recipe it doesn’t necessarily work to just double the ingredients, but in this case I would definitely say the dish was better. Not to try and up sell our pork in anyway, I also noticed the cut of 2kg shoulder joint was so much easier to work with so I made a note to self; where possible, go for the bigger joint, make extra and freeze, for those days when you just don’t have the time – plus a curry or stew is always better second time round. Here’s the dish, it takes a couple of days to make but it really is easy. I’ve included it here as using a 2kg joint which would easily be enough to feed 6-8 adults depending on appetites

Serves 6-8
  • 2kg Berkshire pork shoulder, cut into 2-3cm cubes

For the Marinade:

  • 3 tbls of cumin seeds
  • 3 tbls of coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cardamom seeds.
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 10 clovesr
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 20 black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsps dried chilli flakes
  • 150ml organic cider vinegar
  • 30g tamarind paste (I found tamarind paste in the super market next to the jars of ready to go lemon grass and garlic, but you can use tamarind sauce or a really good soya sauce)
  • 60g light brown muscovado sugar
  • 1 organic garlic bulb, cloves crushed
  • 6cm piece of fresh root ginger, grated

Method

Place all the dry spices, except the turmeric and dried chillies, in a dry frying pan and heat gently until they begin to release their aroma, this will only take a minute if not a few seconds so don’t be tempted to walk away and leave the pan on the heat.

Place these warm spices in a food processor along with the turmeric and chillies and blend to a fine powder.

Then add the vinegar, tamarind paste, sugar, garlic and ginger and blend until smooth.

Toss the pork in the marinade and place in a plastic container. Pop in the fridge for 24 hours.

For the Curry:

  • Your choice of oil for frying, the recipe calls for ghee or clarified butter but I just used organic rapeseed oil.
  • 20 dried curry leaves
  • 2 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 4 organic onions finely chopped
  • 4 fresh green chillies – the second time I used 2 teaspoons of dried chilli flakes which gave a nice earthy warm heat to the dish
  • 1 tin of organic chopped tomatoes
  • Maldon sea flakes to taste
  • boiled potatoes or rice, to serve
  • Method

    When your ready to make the curry heat a little oil in a frying pan, add the curry leaves and mustard seeds and when the seeds begin to pop add the onion and green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes.

    In a large casserole dish gently fry off the pork shoulder (keep the marinade juices to one side for now) stir in the the onion and spice mixture, add the chopped tomatoes and the marinade juices and pour over just enough water to cover.

    With the lid on, bring to the boil then simmer very gently in a very low oven for 1-2hours, or until tender.

    Once the meat is cooked you might find your sauce is still quite thin. At this point I took all the meat out of the sauce with a slotted spoon popped it to one side then reduced the liquid down until I was left with a nice consistency. This took about 5 mins but will depend on how thin the sauce was to begin with and how thick you like it.

    Then I added the pork back in, and allowed it all to sit in the thickened sauce on a very low heat for a couple of minutes. This way you can thicken a sauce without continuing the cooking process of the meat (or any vegetables you might have added).

    Any left overs can be put in meal size portions for the freezer.

    SPICED BERKSHIRE PORK KEBABS

    Serves 4
    • 400g Pedigree Berkshire pork tenderloin, diced
    • 4 tablespoons of honey
    • 1 fresh red chilli, chopped (we like to leave the seeds in but you can take them out).
    • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
    • a pinch of cayenne pepper
    • 2 tablespoons of orange juice
    • 1 table spoon of fennel seeds

    Method

    Place the pork in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or over night if possible.

    When your ready to cook, take the pork out of the marinade and pop about 4-5 pieces onto a wooden skewer, keep going until you’ve used up all the pork.

    Cook for 2-3mins on each side either over a barbecue or in a griddle pan, brushing with the marinade during cooking for extra stickiness.

    Serve with flat bread and a fresh green salad.

    HICKORY SMOKED BERKSHIRE BACON AND EGGS WITH SUMMER FRUITS AND PURE CANDIAN MAPLE SYRUP

    Serves 2
    • 1 Packet of Hickory Smoked Pedigree Berkshire Bacon, you can use unsmoked if you prefer
    • 2 free range eggs, the fresher the better
    • 1 table spoon of cider vinegar
    • 2 slices of bread
    • A selection of summer fruits, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries.
    • Pure Canadian Maple Syrup, its a bit pricey, but your worth it!

    Method

    Place the bacon rashers in a pan and grill or fry gently for about ten minutes. Meanwhile half fill a pan with water add the cider vinegar and pop on the hob to boil. Wash your selection of summer fruits gently and stand to one side to drain.

    As the pan of water begins to boil remove from the heat and carefully break each egg into the water, return to a gentle heat, don’t bring it back to the boil, always keep it just at simmering point.

    Put the two slices of bread on to toast. When they pop your poached eggs should be done too. (This will be about 3 minutes).

    Remove them from the heat but leave, for now in the water.

    Butter the toast, and not forgetting the bacon place equal rashers on each slice.

    Carefully using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the water and place on top of the bacon,

    spoon over some summer fruits and drizzle with maple syrup….yummie!