Slow Cooker Spanish Pork

Slow-cooked to tender perfection, this Spanish pork stew is robust, warming and full of flavour. Full of healthy vegetables and light on calories, it's a taste of the sunny south to brighten winter evenings.

📝 Ingredients

• 1 kg pork shoulder (diced)
• 100 g chorizo (or you can use bacon)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 onions (peeled and sliced)
• 1/2 head celery (chopped)
• 5 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)
• 3 bell peppers (sliced, discard the seeds)
• 450 ml chicken stock
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 orange - zest

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1If not already prepared, trim any large pieces of fat from the pork and cut into 1" / 2.5cm cubes.
2. 2Cut the chorizo into chunky slices, then into quarters. Remove the skin.
3. 3Heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat, add the pork and chorizo (or bacon) and fry until lightly browned. It is best to do this in stages - leave some space around the meat as it cooks, you want to lightly brown it, not steam it.
4. 4Transfer the meat to your slow cooker.
5. 5Add the sliced onion, celery, peppers and garlic to the pan. Add a pinch of salt and the paprika. Fry until softened. You can skip this step, but frying off the onion gives a far better final flavour.
6. 6Add the onion, celery and garlic to your slow cooker.
7. 7If needed deglaze the frying pan by adding a little of the stock, give the pan a good scrape to get all the little flavour filled bits up from the bottom of the pan. Add to the slow cooker.
8. 8Add the rest of the ingredients and give a good stir. Season with salt and pepper. At this point you can put everything in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
9. 9Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for an hour then 4 hours on slow. If reheating from chilled put the slow cooker on high for an hour and a half, then turn to low.
10. 10Half an hour before serving check the consistency. If needed you can thicken the casserole with a little cornflour.Put two teaspoons of the cornflour into a small bowl or ramekin. Scoop out a spoon of liquid from the casserole add to the cornflour and stir to make a thin paste. Add this paste into the casserole and stir, initially it will look milky white, but will rapidly thicken and clear.
11. 11--- How to Cook in the Oven ---
12. 12Cook in a slow oven for up to 3 hours.
13. 13Serve the casserole with green vegetables and mashed potatoes, or with beans and crusty bread.