Pork Shoulder Morsels Roasted with Chili and Vinegar

By John, 7 March, 2021
Region
Italy
Description
Pampanella

This Pampanella is a strange recipe from Molise that I found in the encyclopedic La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy, from the Accademia Italiana Della Cucina (I wish the USA had such an institute!). 

You rub morsels of pork with garlic and chili and roast it, then pick the cooked meat out of the juices and finish them with vinegar, and discard the juices. It's a strange preparation, but i couldn't stop picking at it when it was finished... it's bewitching.

Yield
6 Servings
Preparation time
2 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 clv Garlic (crushed and chopped)
2 T Chili Paste (Sicilian or Calabrian)
1 T kosher salt
2 lb Pork Shoulder (cut into cubes)
2 T White wine vinegar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. In a large zip-lock bag, mix the garlic with the chili powder and the salt, then add the pork and mix it around to coat the meat with the paste. (You can use a bowl and your hands, but be super sure to wash your hands really well afterward or if you touch your eyes you will remember it for a long time.)
  3. Arrange the coated meat in a baking pan in a single layer and cover with aluminum foil if the pan has no lid.
  4. Roast the meat for 2 hours.
  5. When the meat is cooked, use tongs to pick it out of the juices and set it into a different pan, like a pie plate. Drizzle the vinegar over it and return it to the oven, uncovered, for another 10 minutes.
  6. Serve hot
Notes
I cooked this in a covered braising pan to start and then a pie tin to finish. I used La Bomba brand Sicilian chili paste that I got at Lo Adoro Italian Market in Sandwich. Some chili pastes include other seasonings so read the label.
Source
La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy