Serves 4
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra, for drizzling
½ onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
350 g (12 oz) pork fllet, cut into 1 cm (½ inch) cubes
2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary, plus few leaves to garnish (optional)
finely grated rind of ½ lemon
400 g (13 oz) can chopped tomatoes
200 ml (7 fl oz) chicken stock
salt and pepper
50 g (2 oz) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, to serve
Heat the oil in a saucepan over a low heat and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes until soft and golden. Add the carrot, celery and garlic and fry gently for another 5 minutes.
Stir in the pork, rosemary and lemon rind, and fry for a few minutes until the pork is lightly browned all over. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, then gently simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes. Serve hot with rigatoni or penne pasta, drizzled with a little extra olive oil and garnished with the rosemary, if liked. Serve the grated Parmesan in a bowl at the table for sprinkling over the top.
For pork & basil gnocchi, follow the recipe as above, frying the pork with the lemon rind and 2 tablespoons roughly torn basil leaves instead of the rosemary. Add the tomatoes and stock and continue cooking the meat sauce as above. Toss with 500 g (1 lb) ready-made vacuum-packed gnocchi that has been cooked in a saucepan of boiling water according to the packet instructions and drained well.