Braised Pork in the "Black Rooster" (Brasato di Maiale Nero)

Even without tv we still will pop onto hulu or some other website to catch a show or two.  One night, I got home to find Jason watching "Molto Mario", Batali's show.  We watched him make this pork dish, a pork roast braised in red wine sauce alongside roasted butternut squash in agrodolce and knew we had to make it one day.

We have revived our Friday cooking sessions this fall and today we decided to try this dish.  It was incredible.  Instead of the butternut squash, we substituted spaghetti squash (which I love) and added a side of braised chard.  We substituted bacon for the pancetta and made a roast about half the size of what he did on the show. 

The dish was incredible!  Along with the rotolo, we now have decided on our Christmas eve dinner!

BRAISED PORK IN THE BLACK ROOSTER (Brasato in Maiale Nero)

One 2 pound pork roast, rolled and tied
2 teaspoons salt
several fresh sage leaves
2 slices of bacon
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup parsley leaves
Olive oil
2 cups dry red wine (we used a tempranillo, chianti would also be perfect)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
black pepper

First tie up the roast (we use Food Loops which are easy and can be washed and reused)

Slide sage leaves under the loops all the way across the roast

Chop up the bacon, parsley and garlic together until it becomes the consistency of a paste.  Add a splash of olive oil if you need it but we didn't use more than a teaspoon.

In a large dutch oven, cook the bacon paste in a little bit of olive oil until it essentially melts.

Then, brown the roast in the mixture on all sides

 

Add 1 cup of the red wine, bring to a boil and reduce.  Add the remaining 1 cup of wine and the tomatoes and bring to a boil

Cover the pot, lower to a simmer and cook about 2 hours.  When finished cooking, pull out the roast to let rest, turn up the heat on the pot and reduce the braising liquid.

Remove the string and sage leaves from the roast.  Serve cut into slices and doused with the sauce!