Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Two Ways with Pork, Tomatoes and Semolina



[js]
I'm not particularly methodical when it comes to cooking. I don't work with a plan and I don't even go into grocery stores with a list. Usually, what's for dinner is whatever I feel like cooking that particular time.

Which is why it's quite interesting and amusing to me when I see patterns emerge. To wit, apparently when confronted with pork, my firing neurons tell me to go with tomatoes and semolina.

Semolina-crusted Pork Chop, with Tomato-Braised Cannellini

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's pork chop!

[js]
The picture is kind of funny methinks: it looks like a flying pork chop!

For a quick meal one day, I pan-fried some semolina-crusted pork chops in olive oil. Thinking that the pork chops will be quite lonely and sauceless, I immediately grabbed a can of cannelini beans and stewed them with tomatoes and garlic.

Baked Semolina Pasta with Pork Rib Ragu


[js]
Another time, I had roasted a couple of racks of pork ribs for dinner with guests. The pork ribs were simply rubbed with a mustard-thyme concoction. There was quite some meat leftover and I knew that people were not going to eat the pork in the same form.

Enter semolina pasta.

I had made a batch of semolina pasta some days before. I must have been thinking of comparing eggless semolina pasta with egg-yes pasta dough, but for whatever reason, the project must have been abandoned or postponed. The dough was just sitting all by its lonesome on a fridge door shelf.

Pork rib, meet semolina pasta.

And of course, tomatoes in the form of sauce. I proceeded to make a standard tomato sauce and added my meat to it to stew. I boiled the pasta and dropped everything into the pot to bake.

I added some breadcrumbs and grated cheese on top and called the whole thing dinner.



[js]
Maybe next time I'll try something different with pork, eh?


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7 comments:

  1. js, I'm the exact opposite! I always have a plan and I always make lists. I can't help myself sometimes.

    I love that you made a ragu from pork ribs.

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  2. I am totally with you about working without a plan. My husband always has a plan.

    I love the pasta dish.

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  3. I love the big chunks of garlic!

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  4. Wow, that pork ragu is mouth-watering! What a great recipe.

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  5. Ben:
    Sometimes spontaneous cooking is best. =)

    Marvin:
    maybelle's mom:
    Haha... I guess you can always divide the world into the organized... and not-so-organized.

    Dragon:
    We do love our garlic!

    Cookin' Canuck:
    Thanks! It was a very nice way to use up the leftovers, for sure.

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  6. The baked pasta with pork rib ragu looks amazingly delicious! I've been trying to look for semonila but I can't seem to find it!

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  7. pigpigscorner:
    Hmmm... Yeah, it's not so easy to find here either. I guess try a specialty gourmet store, or an Italian grocery store. In our case, we got some from a store that specialized in grains/pastas/dried beans & legumes.

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