Normandy Pork Casserole with Cheesy Dumplings

Normandy Pork Casserole with Cheesy Dumplings

Serves 6 | Cooking Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 50g (2oz) Butter
• 1kg (2lb 4oz) Shoulder of pork, cubed
• Seasoning
• 200g (7oz) Lardons or streaky bacon, cut into chunks
• 16 Shallots, peeled
• 1 Small onion, chopped
• 2 Celery sticks, chopped
• 300ml (1/2 pt) Dry cider
• 300ml (1/2 pt) Pork stock
• 2x15mlsp (2tbsp) Cornflour, mixed
• 6x15mlsp (6tbsp) Half-fat crème fraîche
• 2x15mslsp (2tbsp) Dijon mustard
• 2x15mlsp (2tbsp) Fresh tarragon leaves

For the Dumplings

• 110g (4oz) Self-raising flour
• 25g (1oz) Butter
• 25g (1oz) Strong cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 15mlsp (1tbsp) Milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170 ̊C, Gas Mark 3.

2. Heat half the butter in a large casserole dish, add half the pork, season and fry for about 10 minutes until thoroughly browned.

3. Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the rest of the butter to the casserole and fry the rest of the pork for 10 minutes until evenly browned.

4. Meanwhile, in another pan, dry-fry the lardons until crispy. Remove, set aside, then sauté the whole shallots, onion and celery for a few minutes, to soften slightly.

5. Combine all the pork, the bacon lardons, shallots, onion and celery into a casserole.

6. Pour over the cider and stock.
   Cover the dish and cook in the oven for 2 hours until the pork is tender.

7. 35 minutes before the end of the cooking time make the dumplings. Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter.

8. Add the grated cheese and bind together with the egg, add a little milk if the mixture is too dry. Form the mixture into 8 soft balls.

9. Blend the cornflour with 2x15mlsp (2tbsp) of water. Add the blended cornflour to the casserole with the crème fraîche, mustard and tarragon.

10. Drop spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture on top, cover and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked.

    Serving suggestions:
    Serve with a mixture of steamed green vegetables