Serves: 4
You can braise the pork a day or two in advance and have it ready to stuff the pasta. If you can’t find the giant shells you could use cannelloni.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 stick celery, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 x 400g tin tomatoes
- 400ml stock or water
- 100ml dry vermouth e.g. Noilly Prat
- 2 pinches of chilli flakes
- 1 kg shoulder of pork, rind and outer layer of fat removed
- 50g butter
- 4 tablespoons plain flour
- 500ml milk
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 100g grated cheese, e.g. parmesan/cheddar or a mixture of both
- 180g conchiglioni (jumbo pasta shells)
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Method
- Heat the oven to 140˚c, fan oven 120˚c, gas mark 1. Place all the ingredients for the braised pork in an ovenproof casserole dish. Add a little salt and ground black pepper. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 6 hours.
- Lift the pork out of the casserole dish and set aside. Place the dish over a moderate heat and reduce the cooking liquor by about a third. Leave to cool then either with 2 forks or a knife pull the meat apart into small pieces. Stir into the cooled cooking liquor. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- For the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the milk and cook over a low heat until the sauce is smooth and glossy. Stir in the mustard and cheese and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for about 8 minutes until it is nearly cooked through but still has a definite bite to it. Drain and leave until the pasta is cool enough to handle. Heat the oven to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c, gas mark 6.
- Stuff the shells with the pork mixture and place in a large ovenproof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and golden.