Pork Alentejana

Summary

Yield
Servings
SourceAdapted from Kathy Plante's recipe in Madeiran Cooking, from the Museum of Madeiran Heritage, New Bedford
Prep time6 hours
Region

Description

A Portuguese dish, known in that language as Carne de Porco à Alentejana, or pork in the style of the Alentejo region. This is cubes of pork cooked with onions, paprika, garlic, and white wine and finished with clams.

Ingredients

2lbpork (cut into 1-inch cubes)
1 1⁄2cDry White Wine (or dry vermouth)
2clvGarlic (crushed)
4tPaprika
2eaBay Leaf
4TOlive oil (for cooking)
2eaOnion (thinly sliced)
1tground red pepper (I used Aleppo pepper)
2lbLittleneck clams

Instructions

  1. Cube the pork and marinate it overnight in the white wine with garlic, bay leaves, and paprika.
  2. Drain the pork and save the marinade. 
  3. Dry the pork well. In a skillet, fry the pork in 2 Tbsp oil until seared on the outside all around.
  4. Add the reserved marinade, reduce the heat and simmer. Let the liquid evaporate.
  5. In a heavy pot, cook the sliced onions in the other 2 Tbsp oil with the ground red pepper until translucent.
  6. Add the clams to the onions and cook through. (Cook littlenecks until they open).
  7. Add the pork to the onion-clam pot.
  8. Reduce the remaining liquid from the pork pan as much as you like and add to the mix.
  9. Serve with cubed french-fried potatoes to be traditional, or it also works well over rice.

Notes

This is typically made with littlenecks, and it is somewhat showy that way, but I always use Sea Clams because I prefer the flavor, I can dig them myself at Plymouth Long Beach, and the finished dish can be more easily packed and stored to bring to work for lunch.
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