Braised Bísaro Pork Cheeks in Red Wine

Cheeks are a muscle that works throughout life. They therefore take time, and in return, they offer meat that melts with a spoon, in a dark wine sauce. In the Bísaro pig, raised slowly and free-range, this cut has a gelatinous texture and flavour that intensely farmed pigs do not know.

It's the perfect dish for a Sunday pot roast. Make it the day before if you can: like all stews, it improves after resting overnight.

Servings: 4 people

Time: 20 minutes preparation, 2h30 slow cooking

Difficulty: Easy, just requires patience

Ingredients

•   1 kg Bísaro pork cheeks

•   500 ml full-bodied red wine, from Douro or Trás-os-Montes

•   1 large onion, chopped

•   2 carrots, thickly sliced

•   3 cloves garlic, crushed

•   1 bay leaf and a sprig of thyme (or rosemary)

•   1 tablespoon tomato paste

•   Olive oil, salt, and black pepper

•   Mashed potatoes to serve

Preparation

1.   Season the cheeks with salt and pepper. In a wide pot, heat a drizzle of olive oil and brown them well on all sides, in two batches so as not to cool the pot. Set aside.

2.   In the same pot, sauté the onion, garlic, and carrot until the onion is tender. Add the tomato paste and cook for one minute.

3.   Return the meat to the pot, add the bay leaf and thyme, and cover with the red wine. If the wine doesn't cover it, add a little hot water.

4.   Cover and simmer on very low heat for 2 to 2.5 hours. The meat is ready when a fork penetrates it effortlessly.

5.   Remove the cheeks and let the sauce reduce over high heat until it thickens. Taste for salt, then return the meat to the sauce.

6.   Serve over mashed potatoes, with the sauce on top and the vegetables from the pot.

Bísaro Tips

•   Use a wine you would drink for dinner. What you wouldn't drink, you shouldn't cook with.

•   In a pressure cooker, 45 minutes are enough. But slow cooking in a pot gives a sauce with greater depth.

•   Made the day before and reheated slowly, it gets even better. And it freezes without losing anything.

Buy Bísaro Pork Cheeks in our shop, with delivery nationwide. → Fresh Bísaro Pork