I love cooking seasonal Greek recipes! In this little corner of the world we still hold weekly markets with producers bringing their goods to the big city from the surrounding countryside. It’s pork with leeks and celery casserole.
Of course there are supermarkets, but what’s the point when your local grocer is two doors down and in the open air? If, like me, you work from home, market day is the perfect excuse to stretch your legs.
So this week I picked a huge bunch of celery and a few leeks. I love this combination, especially when the leeks are succulent and in season. And there is a little wintery Greek dish I particularly longed for: leeks with celery and pork stew. This is a light broth with all the meaty goodness of a stew cut through with a zesty lemon twist. It’s best accompanied by lots of fresh crusty bread to dunk in your bowl. I tend to get greedy sometimes and ended up having second helpings of this easy to make stew. And if you want to find out why, here is what you will need:
Pork with leeks and celery
Ingredients
- 750 gr of diced pork preferably shoulder
- 3 medium leeks
- 4-5 celery stalks
- 80 ml olive oil
- 1 lemon for its juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Roughly chop your leeks and celery stalks. There are two stages to this recipe, one for the leeks another for the celery as the latter joins the pot a little later.
- Sauté your leeks in a olive oil, remove from the pan and then add your pork to brown. Put the leeks back in with the pork and add enough warm water to cover. Bring to the boil and then let it simmer for approximately 40 minutes.
- In another pot, blanch your celery, drain and set aside. Add the celery in once you have checked the pork is soft and almost cooked. Let it cook for another 15 minutes.
This dish goes great with avgolemono, the same as fricassee. This time I decided to simply squeeze a lemon. You can either add the juice straight to the pot to mix with the reduced liquids of the casserole or keep a wedge by your bowl to add at the table.
Enjoy!
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