Melt in the mouth tender pork shanks cooked slowly in a rich tomato and basil sauce. The addition of the canellini beans makes this a simple one pot meal that you could serve with a crisp baby gem salad. Mop up the juices with fresh crusty bread or try Stirring Stuff’s salt crust new potatoes New Potatoes Baked in an Orange Scented Salt Crust with Mint and Rosemary

Pork shanks Braised in a tomato Basil Sauce

Serve 4

2 pork shanks (about 1.6kg in weight) Skin removed

2 tablespoon mild olive oil

150g chorizo (omit the chili flakes if you use a hot/piquant chorizo)

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

5 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole

1 pinch of chili flakes

100ml white wine

4 stalks celery, sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and the white pith removed, roughly chopped

25g pack fresh basil, stalks removed and leaves thinly sliced

1 450g tin chopped tomatoes

1 450g tin canellini beans, rinsed and drained

Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 Method:

Preheat the oven to 150C/130Fan/gas 2/top left of a four door Aga

Have ready all of the ingredients.

Heat the oil in a large casserole pan. Add the pork shanks and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side to brown.

Add the chorizo, the chopped onion and the garlic cloves.  Cook for a couple of minutes until the paprika in the chorizo has coloured the oil. Stir in the flaked chili if using.

Pour in the wine and stir well to mix in any meaty sediment on the bottom of the pan. Bubble the sine rapidly for a couple of minutes to allow it to reduce and the alcohol to steam off.

Tip in the sliced celery the chopped pepper, ¾ of the sliced basil and the tin of tomatoes stir to mix.

Put the lid on to the casserole and when the liquid is boiling rapidly remove it from the hob to the preheated oven.

Cook for 3 hours. After 1 1/12 hours turn the meat. The casserole is cooked when the meat has pulled away from the ends of the bones and it is tender. At this stage the juice will look a little thin.

To finish the casserole increase the oven temperature to 200c/180 fan/gas6/top left of Aga. Remove the cooked shanks from the sauce into a clean casserole or oven proof dish and put them uncovered into the hot oven to further brown.

To finish the sauce: Add the drained canellini beans to the sauce and put the casserole pan back onto the hob over a high heat. Boil the sauce rapidly for about ten minutes after which time it will become thick and glossy. Adjust the seasoning.

Remove the shanks from the oven and pour over the thickened sauce. Scatter over the remaining sliced basil and serve.

Serve with baked sweet potato and lots of green veg – I like to service it with buttered spinach and green pan https://www.greenpan.co.uk/ stir fry of sliced leek, diced courgettes.

Stirring Stuff in Scotland