Paprika Pork Stew

Today I bring you, my faithful readers, yet another recipe borrowed and adapted from the ever useful BBC GoodFood. However, as I have recently discussed the virtues of this wonderful site I shan’t subject any of my followers to more of the same, just yet. To be honest, one hardly needs to use a recipe for a dish like this – it’s more about the idea, reading something that places the drive to cook a certain dish into one’s head. I think this is the case with a lot of my creations and remains one of the main reasons I read an awful lot of recipes posted across wordpress. There’s nothing better than discovering the ideas or foodie nuances of fellow bloggers and adapting them to one’s own lifestyle or flavour preference. After all, one person alone cannot come up with too many dishes all at once, such creativity demands inspiration. So, thank-you wordpress!

Really, this dish is essentially a goulash, something to which I have already dedicated a post to and one which hasn’t received quite enough attention. However, such a delicious variation really requires a post all of its own, so please enjoy it! There’s actually not a lot more I can say about goulash that I haven’t already said in my previous recipe, so for once I shan’t bang on about flavours and advice. However, one should say that pork tenderloin is cooked in a rather different manner to stewing beef as it is an extremely lean cut – there is no fat to melt out of the joint, which is probably why it has been named in the way it has. So, without further ado, please enjoy my rather literally named ‘Paprika Pork’.

Paprika Pork Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 300g pork tenderloin

• 250g mushrooms, sliced into eighths

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 3 large carrots, diced

• 2 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 generous tablespoon on tomato puree

• 200ml chicken stock

• A few sprigs of fresh coriander to serve

Method:

1. Heat a good slug of olive oil in a large pan and cook the onions for around 5-6 minutes, until translucent and browning. Add the paprika and the carrots and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock, mushrooms and tomato puree, simmer for 15-20 minutes. This allows the flavours to develop and the sauce to reduce.

2. Add the pork and continue to simmer until the pork has been cooked through, season to taste. This is simply delicious serve delicious with a hunk of bread and a little soured cream. However, it could also be served with rice, potatoes or even some types of pasta.

Cost: This whole meal can be bought and cooked for no more than £4, bringing it in at £1 per portion. What an absolute bargain and the same price as the original goulash recipe, so take your pick! They are both equally gorgeous.