It's ages since I blogged a recipe, so I thought I'd pass this one on. Don't be put off by the name - this is actually really nice and the children asked when they could have it again; always a good sign! It's really easy. I would imagine that you can double it easily - if you can find a big enough dish - for freezing into portions.
I found the original recipe in one of those little booklets they produce to go with BBC Good Food magazine. The booklet concerned was a part Weight Watchers promotion. I've adapted it slightly because the original recipe says to use low fat cooking spray but the research I've done suggests that most people don't know what a "spray" consists of and overestimate, so I just use oil instead. 1 tablespoon across 4 people makes about 30 calories difference per serving.
The casserole is baked in the oven , but it would work in the slow cooker too. If you want to slow cook it, just follow the recipe but place the ingredients in the slow cooker instead of the oven. It should take about 6-8 hours on low. Don't forget to use less stock than the conventional recipe!
I found kidneys beans in chilli sauce in Waitrose/Ocado by the way but if you can't find anything like that, one of those tins of spicy baked beans would do. Alternatively, a tin of baked beans with some added chilli powder would also do. You can serve this with rice, jacket potatoes or some mash.
Pork and Veg Casserole
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
450g pork shoulder, cut into chunks
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
2 medium carrots, sliced
200g swede, cubed
420g mixed beans in chilli sauce
400ml hot vegetable stock (300ml if cooking in slow cooker)
Method
1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole and cook the pork, adding a handful at a time. Cook over a high heat for 3-4 mins until the pork is browned.
2. Add the onion, garlic, apple, carrots and swede, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring.
3. Add the beans in chilli sauce and hot stock, mix thoroughly. Bring to the boil, then put the lid on and put in the oven. Bake for 1 hour. Check the seasoning before serving.
Enjoy!