In January 2019, I started volunteering as a cook at a local homeless shelter. In the beginning this meant cooking for around 8 people, and as it was mid winter, big batch cooking of casseroles and other slow-cook dinners were a practical and popular option.
This was a practice-run paprika pork and chorizo goulash and was served with brown rice and sour cream.
What to use – serves 6
- 1kg shoulder of pork – cut into large chunks
- 1 chorizo sausage – cut into 1cm slices
- 1 large onion – roughly chopped
- 2 red peppers – cut into 2cm pieces
- 150g mushrooms – quartered
- 2 cloves garlic – finely sliced
- 400g can of chopped tomatoes
- 500ml water
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1tbs honey
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- juice of half a lemon (optional)
How to use it
Heat your oven to 150C or 140C fan. On the hob, add a table spoon of olive oil, then season and fry off the pork in batches and set aside.
Add the chorizo to the casserole and gently cook until the oils start to release.
Throw in your chopped onion and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes until golden. Don’t let them brown.
Now the peppers go in along with your mushrooms and garlic. Stir and cook for another minute. Add the paprika, chilli flakes and pork and fry for another minute.
Now you add the liquid – the can of chopped tomatoes (or you could use passata) and water. At this point I added a teaspoon of honey. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a bubble, put the lid on and put into the oven to slow cook for at least a couple of hours. Check on it after an hour, add more water if necessary.
After two hours, the meat should be tender – cook for longer if you want to. Check the seasoning – it may need more salt and pepper, honey, chilli, or if it’s feeling overly rich, squeeze in some lemon juice – I did.
Serve with brown rice, sour cream and parsley scattered on top.
eatburpsleep 