Slow Cooker Italian Pork and Peppers

Alright, I know...ANOTHER slow cooker recipe. Honestly, though, can you ever actually have too many? Not in my book you can't, and since I'm the one writing this blog...well, slow cooker meals it is!

My husband doesn't love pork, but he REALLY liked this dish. It's one of the best dishes I've had in awhile, actually, and that's saying a lot since I cook almost every night. I love it because it's SUPER easy to put together, the slow cooker does practically all of the work, and the flavors are SO yummy when you actually sit down to eat it. The pork is so tender it almost melts in your mouth! Mmm.

I got the initial recipe for this from Cooking Light as is noted below; their suggestion was to pair the pork with polenta. You can do that, or you can do like I did and pair it with mashed potatoes.

Slow Cooker Italian Pork and Peppers

Adapted from Cooking Light, January 2015

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (1 1/2-pound) boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

2 cups vertically sliced onion

1 cup sliced yellow bell pepper

10 garlic cloves, minced

2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

 

 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Sprinkle pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add pork to pan and cook 10 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Transfer pork to your slow cooker.

 

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, rosemary, and thyme to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 1/2 hours.

 

Add vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes and turn off heat. Shred pork. Serve over polenta or mashed potatoes.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!



Weeknight Bites: Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

If there's one thing I've learned about living in the South, it's that people down here love BBQ! Several of my friends make family recipes that have been passed down for generations (of course they refuse to share), and many of us reserve whole days on the weekend for a homemade BBQ grill-out. And hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that!

But what if you have a hankerin' (yep, I've been in the South WAY too long now...) for an awesome pulled pork sandwich in the middle of the week? All is not lost, friends. Today, I've got a recipe for tender, juicy, flavorful pork BBQ that will satisfy that craving with a lot less work! How? By employing my best friend, the slow cooker (of course!).

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

 3 lb pork butt roast, bone-in

1/2 cup root beer

3/4 cup BBQ sauce (use your favorite!)

1 large onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

Buns

Place pork butt in slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Add onion on top of the pork, then pour root beer and BBQ over pork and onions. Set slow cooker to low and cook for approximately 10 1/2 hours. At 10 1/2 hours, shred the pork, removing the bone and discarding it. Cook shredded pork at low setting for an additional 30 minutes. Serve with buns and your favorite sides (as you can see, I chose mac and cheese!), and hot sauce and/or extra BBQ sauce as desired.

So there you have it! Next time you get that BBQ craving mid-week, give this recipe a try. It may not beat your momma's BBQ - but it's pretty darn good, I'd say!

Cheers!