Everyday dinner
Pork and apple casserole with potatoes and cabbage
Slow-braised pork shoulder with apple and sage, served with boiled potatoes and tender cabbage.
Free guide: thirty gluten-free dinners, with the shopping lists
Pork shoulder becomes tender with gentle cooking, while eating apples give the gravy a little sweetness. Potatoes and cabbage complete the meal, with quantities included for four people.
The casserole can be made ahead and reheated while you cook the vegetables fresh. This recipe is in development and has not been kitchen-tested.
The recipe
Pork and apple casserole with potatoes and cabbage
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 160 min
- Total*
- 185 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
*Estimated development timings. No standing time is required. Allow extra cooking time if the pork is not fork-tender; cooling and reheating for make-ahead meals are additional.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
Pork and apple casserole
Potatoes and cabbage
Equipment
- Use a 4-litre flameproof, ovenproof casserole with a close-fitting lid.
- Use a 4-litre saucepan for the potatoes and a 3-litre lidded saucepan for the cabbage.
- Have a measuring jug, scales, a small bowl, a colander and a wooden spoon ready.
- Use separate chopping boards and utensils for raw pork and vegetables, and a clean food thermometer.
- The meal needs one oven shelf and two hob rings; finish the gravy on the potato ring after draining.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the ingredients
Heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan. Prepare the onion, garlic, sage, potatoes and cabbage as listed, keeping the apples whole until needed. Cut the pork on a separate board, then wash your hands and clean the board, knife and work surface. Check that the pork pieces are roughly equal in size and the casserole fits on the oven shelf with its lid on.
- 02
Brown the pork
Heat 20 ml of the casserole oil over a medium-high heat. Brown the pork in three batches, allowing about 5 minutes per batch, then transfer to a plate reserved for the partly cooked meat. The pieces should have brown patches on several sides; they will still be raw inside.
- 03
Start the gravy
Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 10 ml casserole oil and the onion. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring, until softened and lightly golden. Add the garlic and sage and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in the stock, scrape the browned bits from the base and return the pork with its juices. Add a little pepper and bring to a steady simmer, allowing about 3 minutes.
- 04
Braise until nearly tender
Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour 40 minutes. Check after an hour: there should still be visible gravy around the pork. If it looks dry, stir in 50 ml of the extra water and replace the lid. At the end, a fork should enter the pork fairly easily, although the pieces may not yet pull apart. If still firm, cook for another 15–20 minutes before adding the apples.
- 05
Add the apples
Core the apples and cut into thick wedges, leaving the skins on. Stir them into the casserole, cover and return to the oven for 30 minutes. The apples should soften but retain some shape, and the pork should separate easily when pressed with a fork. Check several large pieces with a clean thermometer: their centres must reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds. Continue cooking if either the temperature or tenderness check is not met.
- 06
Cook the potatoes
As soon as the apples go into the oven, put the potatoes in the large saucepan with approximately 1.5 litres of water, enough to cover them, and a little salt if wanted. Cover to bring to the boil, then partly uncover and simmer for 15–20 minutes. A small knife should slide through the centre without resistance. Drain, return to the warm pan off the heat and cover to keep warm briefly.
- 07
Soften the cabbage
Once the potatoes are simmering, heat the 15 ml cabbage oil in the second saucepan. Add the cabbage and its 100 ml water. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 8–12 minutes, turning occasionally, until the thickest strips are tender. Uncover for the final 2 minutes if water remains pooled in the base, then season with a little salt and pepper.
- 08
Thicken and serve
When the pork is tender and safely cooked, place the casserole on the hob ring freed by the potatoes. Mix the cornflour with 30 ml cold water until smooth. Stir it into the bubbling gravy and simmer gently for 3 minutes, stirring carefully around the apples, until the gravy lightly coats a spoon. If too thick, add the remaining extra water a little at a time. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Divide the pork, apples, gravy, potatoes and cabbage between four plates and serve while everything is steaming hot.
Ingredient checks
Choose plain, uncoated pork and gluten-free-labelled stock and cornflour. Check stock, seasonings and any replacement ingredients for gluten-containing cereals and all other declared allergens each time you shop. For someone with coeliac disease, use clean pans, utensils, boards and a colander, and keep the meal away from flour dust, crumbs and shared contaminated condiments. The combined shopping quantity of rapeseed oil is 45 ml: 30 ml for the casserole and 15 ml for the cabbage. Stock is listed as 500 ml prepared stock; water used to make it is not an additional stock ingredient or extra gravy water. Other quantities cover the whole meal once. No pantry deductions are assumed; subtract only quantities you have checked are available and suitable. Apple weight includes the cores before removal; cabbage weight is the usable prepared amount.
Allergens: Chicken stock may contain celery, milk, mustard or soya; check the actual product and declare any allergens it contains.; Check stock for cereals containing gluten and choose a product labelled gluten-free; gluten-free status does not automatically mean suitability for a wheat allergy.; No other UK priority allergens are deliberately included in the stated ingredients, but supplier ingredients and cross-contact warnings must be checked against all 14 allergens..
Make it work for you
Replace the chicken stock with the same quantity of gluten-free vegetable stock, checking its allergens.
Use the same prepared weight of white cabbage instead of Savoy cabbage; allow a few extra minutes if the thicker strips remain firm.
Replace the fresh sage with 1 g dried sage, checking the packet for gluten-free suitability.
Use 350 g firm pears instead of apples and begin checking their tenderness after 20 minutes; this variation has not been kitchen-tested.
For another day
For make-ahead cooking, prepare the casserole and cook the potatoes and cabbage fresh when serving.
Divide cooked leftovers into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 1–2 hours at 0–5°C; eat within 48 hours or freeze.
Freeze cooled casserole in labelled portions as soon as possible; its texture after freezing has not been kitchen-tested.
Defrost completely in the fridge and use within 24 hours of defrosting.
Reheat only once, stirring frequently on the hob until steaming hot throughout, including the centres of the pork pieces; add a little water if the gravy catches.
The main method starts with raw pork and fresh vegetables; do not put previously cooked pork through the full braising method.
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The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
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