Braising in milk may seem unusual, but it’s a tradition in Italy. The milk will curdle as it cooks, but don’t sweat it: Puréeing the cooking liquid smooths it out, transforming it into a creamy, pale golden sauce.
INGREDIENTS
1 centre-cut pork loin rib-end roast or pork shoulder butt roast (about 1.35 kg), tied
½ tsp each salt and pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cups milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS
Trim fat from pork, leaving ⅛-inch (3 mm) thick layer. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. In large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat; brown pork all over. Transfer to plate.
Reduce heat to medium and drain fat from pan; cook onion, stirring often, until golden, about 4 minutes. Add milk, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan.
Return pork and any accumulated juices to pan; bring to simmer. Cover and braise in 300°F (150°C) oven, basting every 30 minutes and turning once with 2 wooden spoons, until pork is very tender, 2 to 2½ hours.
Transfer pork to cutting board; cover loosely with foil and let rest for10 minutes. Cut strings from pork; slice across the grain.
While pork is resting, skim fat from sauce; bring sauce to boil. Boil until reduced to 2½ cups, about 10 minutes. Transfer to blender or food processor; purée until smooth. Add lemon juice and blend to combine; stir in parsley. Serve sauce with sliced pork.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION, PER SERVING: about 309 cal, 24 g pro, 21 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 6 g carb, trace fibre, 74 mg chol, 237 mg sodium. % RDI: 12% calcium, 9% iron, 5% vit A, 3% vit C, 4% folate.
VARIATIONS
MILK-BRAISED PORK LOIN WITH CIPOLLINI ONIONS
Add 8 small cipollini or 16 pearl onions, peeled, to pan during last hour of braising. Using slotted spoon, transfer to platter with pork before puréeing sauce.
SLOW COOKER MILK-BRAISED PORK LOIN
Follow first 2 paragraphs as directed. Transfer pork and pan juices to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until pork is very tender, about 8 hours. Proceed with recipe starting at fourth paragraph, transferring sauce to saucepan to reduce.
