Any given Sunday during football season finds me looking for a tasty, simple, and comforting one pot dish that virtually makes itself. WIth Royer pork in the freezer and home-grown chilis and peppers in the fridge, I had to try Jamie Oliver's Spicy pork and chili-pepper goulash.

The premise is simple: layer every kind of pepper flavor that you can find with rich pork, onions, a few tomatoes, and some herbs and vinegar for kick. Then, bake for 3 hours or so, reduce a liitle more on the stovetop (if you wish), and serve over rice. It couldn't be much easier, and the complexity of the ingredients really works, creating a incredibly fragrant and tasty end result.

I followed the recipe for the most part with only two changes. 1) I used cilantro instead of parsley and I mixed all of that into the sour cream with the zest. 2) When I removed the pot from the oven, I pulled out the pork for shredding and proceeded to reduce the stew for about 30 minutes, until it had lost about 25% of its liquid. Then, I added the pork back into the pot to reheat.

This recipe got a rave review: 9.75/10 according to my diners, and I concur. It's very, very tasty - a definite keeper!

Here is the original recipe:

Spicy Pork and Chili-Pepper Goulash

The idea of cooking a tough piece of pork in a lovely pepper stew to make it extremely tender and melt-in-your-mouth is something I find quite exciting. This dish in particular is one of my favorites and, unless you've got a strange aversion to chiles and peppers, I know you'll end up making it again and again. It's a complete classic. It's also one of those dishes which tastes great when reheated the day after it's been made. You've got a whole range of chili and pepper flavors going on; from smoked paprika to fresh chiles, and fresh peppers to sweet grilled and peeled ones. Delish!

Ingredients

4 1/4 pounds pork shoulder off the bone, in 1 piece, skin off, fat left on
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 fresh red chiles, seeded and finely chopped
2 generous heaping tablespoons mild smoked paprika, plus a little extra for serving
2 teaspoons ground caraway seeds
Small bunch fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked
5 bell peppers (use a mixture of colors), sliced
1 (10-ounce) jar grilled peppers, drained, peeled and chopped
1 (14-ounce) can good quality plum tomatoes
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
14 ounces basmati or long-grain rice, washed
2/3 cup sour cream
1 lemon, zested
Small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Get yourself a deep, ovenproof stew pot with a lid and heat it on the stove. Score the fat on the pork in a criss-cross pattern all the way through to the meat, then season generously with salt and pepper. Pour a good glug of olive oil into the pot and add the pork, fat side down. Cook for about 15 minutes on a medium heat, to render out the fat, then remove the pork from the pot and put it to 1 side.

Add the onions, chili, paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram or oregano and a good pinch of salt and pepper to the pot. Turn the heat down and gently cook the onions for 10 minutes, then add the sliced peppers, the grilled peppers and the tomatoes. Put the pork back into the pot, give everything a little shake, then pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Add the vinegar - this will give it a nice little twang. Bring to the boil, put the lid on top, then place in the preheated oven for 3 hours.

You'll know when the meat is cooked as it will be tender and sticky, and it will break up easily when pulled apart with 2 forks. If it's not quite there yet, put the pot back into the oven and just be patient for a little longer!

When the meat is nearly ready, cook the rice in salted, boiling water for 10 minutes until it's just undercooked, then drain in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water and pouring it back into the pan. Place the colander over the pan on a low heat and put a lid on. Leave to steam dry and cook through for 10 minutes - this will make the rice lovely and fluffy.

Stir the sour cream, lemon zest and most of the parsley together in a little bowl. When the meat is done, take the pot out of the oven and taste the goulash. You're after a balance of sweetness from the peppers and spiciness from the caraway seeds. Tear or break the meat up and serve the goulash in a big dish or bowl, with steaming rice and your flavored sour cream. Sprinkle with the rest of the chopped parsley and tuck in!

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For more info: contact Keri, the Part Time Chef, at keri@parttimechef.info.