Pork and beans

Tender pork shoulder slow roasts with butter beans, wild Cretan greens, garlic, and wine developing a flavor-rich, aromatic sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Greek

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 3 30

Servings

Calories 654kcal

Author by Jenny Skrapaliori Graves

Equipment

ovenproof pot

Ingredients

1 lemon plus more for serving
1 garlic head
½ cup rosemary leaves
4 lbs pork shoulder 2 kg
3 onions
3 celery sticks cut in 1-inch / 3 cm pieces
¾ dry white wine
2 cans butter beans or Greek gigantes or canellini
1¼ cup chicken stock
2 bay leaves
⅔ lb greens chard, chicory, spinach
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Peel the garlic and cut the onions into wedges. Cut the celery sticks into one-inch pieces.
Thoroughly wash the greens.
Grate the lemon zest into a food processor or a pestle and mortar).
Add the garlic cloves and rosemary leaves.
Blitz together, add in the lemon juice, season well, and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Pulse until you have a thick paste.
Rub half of the paste over the pork and leave it to one side for half an hour.
Preheat your oven to 425°F / 220°C.
Drain the beans and save the juice from one can.
Place a large oven-proof casserole on the stove over medium-high heat.
Add three tablespoons of olive oil.
Add the onions, celery and remaining garlic paste.
Saute for 5 minutes, then add the white wine and bring to a boil. Add the beans and the bean juice, the chicken stock and bay leaves and bring everything to a boil.
Place the pork shoulder on top of the beans. Rub the pork skin with a bit of olive oil, then place the pot in the oven.
Cook for 30 minutes so the skin starts to crisp.
While the pork is in the oven, roughly cut the greens.
After 30 minutes, remove the casserole from the oven. Stir in the greens, cover with a lid, and return to the oven.
Reduce the heat to 160°C/140°C . Cook the pork for 3-3½ hours, or until the meat is tender.
To finish, remove the lid and turn the heat back up to 425°F / 220°C for 10-15 minutes, to crisp up the skin.
Remove the meat from the oven, rest for 15 minutes, and serve.
Have lemon wedges around the table to add more lemon juice if you like.

Notes

You can marinate the pork shoulder for longer and leave it covered in the fridge for several hours or even overnight.
In this recipe, I am using stamnagathi greens from Crete. They are difficult to find even in Athens, so when I make this dish, I use whatever the farmers’ market offers that day. It can be spinach, chard, wild chicory, etc.
Thoroughly wash the greens in plenty of water.

Pork cuts for our Greek pork and beans

Shoulder joint
Collar joint
Pork shank
Belly joint
Leg roast
Leg joint

This pork and beans recipe can also be made with smaller cuts suitable for stew. To prepare the meat, sear it before cooking using the same method as our old-fashioned beef stew.

The nutritional analysis is only an estimate based on available ingredients and the recipe’s preparation.

Nutrition