Slow Cooked Pork Cheeks

Each year, as winter sets in, I feel immensely grateful for a well-stocked pantry and freezer. They make it simple to prepare a meal even when it’s too cold to venture outside for odds and ends. This dish is perfect for preparing in advance. While it requires a bit of effort, the result is absolutely worth it. It’s the epitome of comfort food—a casserole with wonderfully tender meat, infused with the aromatic warmth of caraway and a subtle, earthy hint of anise. In my opinion, it’s elegant enough to serve at a dinner party.  

The Nordic countries, particularly Sweden and Finland, have a deep appreciation for aniseed flavours, especially in the form of their unique salty liquorice, which people from other countries often find off-putting (though not everyone!). Personally, I adore it, but this dish offers a much gentler, more delicate aniseed flavour.

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5 from 1 vote

Slow Cooked Pigs Cheeks 

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time5 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 12 evenly sized pigs cheeks trimmed
• 1   medium onion peeled and chopped
• 1 large carrot peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks celery chopped
• 2 Cloves garlic crushed
• 75 g tomato puree
• 500 ml dry red wine
• 400 ml  veal or beef stock
• 2 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• Flour for dusting
• Dill to garnish
• For the Parsnip & Potato Puree
• 800 g  parsnips
• 800 g Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes
• 200 mls milk
• 110 g butter

For the Vegetables

• 6 carrots peeled
• 6 shallots blanched & peeled
• 1 Clove garlic sliced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• olive oil & a knob of butter

Instructions

• Set the oven to 14°0C. For the pigs' cheeks: season the pigs cheeks and dust with a little flour. Heat some olive oil in a cast iron pan if you have one and fry the cheeks until golden-brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set to one side.
• Add the onions, celery and carrots and fry gently until lightly browned. Add the garlic and tomato purée and a little of the red wine. Reduce until the tomato purée starts to caramelise and darken. Carry on adding the wine in stages, reducing between each addition until the sauce is dark and rich in colour.
• Return the cheeks to the pan and pour over just enough stock to cover.  Add the caraway seeds and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
• Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 4 hours. Stir every hour or so, adding a little more stock if it has reduced too much and looks dry.
• Whilst the pork is cooking prepare the parsnip and potato puree.  Place the parsnips and potatoes in separate pans and cover with cold salted water.  Bring to the boil and cook until tender.  Drain the potatoes and pass through a potato ricer.  Drain the parsnips and place in a blender with a little of the milk and butter, blitz and add to the potatoes.  Heat the remaining butter and milk in a pan until hot, add to the puree and then season with salt and white pepper. Keep warm until needed. A little more milk and butter may be required if you're keeping the puree warm or re-heating.
• Preheat the oven 175°C. Heat a frying pan with a little olive oil and butter, add the shallots and brown on all sides. Place the carrots in a pan and cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute, remove and place in a roasting tray with the sliced garlic and thyme and a drizzle of olive oil.  Add the shallots to the roasting tray with the carrots and place in the oven.  Cook for 20 minutes.
• When the cheeks are tender remove from the oven, with a slotted spoon remove the cheeks from the sauce and set to one side.  Pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan.  Simmer and reduce to a rich, luscious consistency, season if necessary. Cut the carrots in half lengthways. Pile the parsnip and potato puree on the plate, followed by two cheeks and a drizzle of the rich sauce. And to finish arrange the carrot and shallot and garnish with a dill.

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