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Slow-braised pork shoulder with sweet fennel and creamy cannellini beans, the kind of dish that fills a kitchen with warmth and brings people to the table before you call them.
Start with the pork. Find a farmer who raises heritage breeds, animals that lived outside and moved around. The shoulder should be well-marbled, with fat that will melt into the broth over hours of gentle cooking. This is not a cut that rewards impatience.
Fennel appears at the market in fall and stays through winter, those pale green bulbs with their feathery fronds and faint licorice perfume. Look for firm bulbs, heavy for their size, with no browning at the edges. The fronds should be bright and alive, not wilted. Save them for the finish.
The beans matter too. Dried cannellini from a recent harvest cook more evenly than beans that have sat on a shelf for years. Soak them overnight in cold water with a generous pinch of salt. They will absorb seasoning from the start and cook to creamy perfection.
This is a dish that asks very little of you beyond time. Brown the meat. Soften the vegetables. Add liquid and walk away. The oven does the rest. Three hours later you have something that tastes like it took all day, because in a sense it did. Every meal is a meaningful choice. This one says you chose to slow down.
Quantity
3 pounds
cut into 2-inch pieces
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
soaked overnight and drained
Quantity
3 medium
Quantity
1 large
diced
Quantity
4
sliced
Quantity
6
smashed
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
4 cups
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lightly crushed
Quantity
4 sprigs
Quantity
2 sprigs
Quantity
2
Quantity
1/4 cup, plus more for finishing
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
to taste
freshly cracked
Quantity
1
zested
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless pork shouldercut into 2-inch pieces | 3 pounds |
| dried cannellini beanssoaked overnight and drained | 1 1/2 cups |
| fennel bulbs with fronds | 3 medium |
| yellow oniondiced | 1 large |
| celery stalkssliced | 4 |
| garlic clovessmashed | 6 |
| dry white wine | 1 cup |
| homemade chicken stock or water | 4 cups |
| tomato paste | 2 tablespoons |
| fennel seedslightly crushed | 1 teaspoon |
| fresh thyme | 4 sprigs |
| fresh rosemary | 2 sprigs |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| good olive oil | 1/4 cup, plus more for finishing |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly cracked | to taste |
| lemonzested | 1 |
| crusty bread | for serving |
Trim the stalks from the fennel bulbs and set aside the feathery fronds in a small bowl of cold water. They will stay perky for hours this way. Quarter each bulb through the core, then cut each quarter into thick wedges. Keep some core attached so the pieces hold together during braising. You want substantial chunks that will soften without falling apart.
Pat the pork pieces completely dry with clean towels. Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Working in batches so you do not crowd the pot, brown the pork deeply on all sides. This takes four to five minutes per batch. The meat should release easily when it is ready to flip. Transfer browned pieces to a plate.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion and celery to the pot with a pinch of salt. Cook until softened and beginning to color, about eight minutes. Add the smashed garlic, fennel seeds, and tomato paste. Stir constantly for one minute until the paste darkens slightly and the fennel seeds become fragrant. The kitchen will smell of sweet anise.
Pour in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, lifting all those caramelized bits into the liquid. Let the wine bubble and reduce by half, about three minutes. This concentrates flavor and cooks off the raw alcohol.
Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pot. Add the drained beans, fennel wedges, stock, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. The liquid should come about two-thirds up the meat. Add more stock or water if needed. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover with a tight-fitting lid.
Transfer the pot to a 300°F oven. Braise for two and a half to three hours, checking once at the halfway point to ensure the liquid still simmers gently. The stew is ready when the pork yields to gentle pressure from a fork and the beans are creamy throughout. The fennel should be meltingly tender, its anise flavor woven through the broth.
Remove the pot from the oven and let it rest, covered, for fifteen minutes. The flavors will settle and the temperature will become comfortable for eating. Fish out and discard the thyme stems, rosemary, and bay leaves. Taste the broth and adjust salt as needed. The beans will have absorbed some seasoning, so be generous.
Ladle the stew into warmed shallow bowls, making sure each portion has plenty of pork, beans, and fennel. Scatter the reserved fennel fronds over the top, grate fresh lemon zest directly over each bowl, and finish with a generous drizzle of your best olive oil. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the broth. This is meant to be eaten slowly.
1 serving (about 540g)
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