Nothing Dull About These Flavors.
Here’s a very tasty meal I put together after thinking about what to do with the ground pork sitting in my freezer and a couple of fresh fennel bulbs. Pork patties, seasoned with garlic, fresh oregano, and pecorino seemed like a good thing. I soaked fresh bread crumbs in milk and added those in order to keep the patties tender. I was careful to use a light hand when I mixed it all together so they wouldn’t be tough.
As I’ve previously mentioned, I keep ‘nduja * in my freezer and it comes in so handy when I want a hit of smoky spicy flavor. Because I was making pork patties, I didn’t see how I could go wrong with a little of ‘nduja’s inherent pork flavor in the seasoning for the fennel. I sliced the bulbs into wedges, added a couple of potatoes and rubbed them with the ‘nduja, which I had mixed with lemon juice, gochugaru *, olive oil, and salt. As the veggies were roasting in the oven, I got on with finishing up the rest of the meal.
After pan frying the patties, I made a quick pan sauce of a sliced shallot, fresh chile, canned diced tomatoes, and a little maple syrup. This sauce ended up being a perfect accompaniment to the pork patties. As to the potatoes and fennel? Well, we’re talking fantastic. I mean, who doesn’t like crisp potato wedges, right? And those browned and caramelized fennel wedges were lusciously melt-in-your-mouth delicious. A truly great meal.
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Pork Patties with 'Nduja Roasted Fennel and Potato Wedges
6
servingsGround pork patties, seasoned with fresh oregano, garlic, and pecorino sit on an easy pan sauce of tomatoes, shallots, fresh chilies, and a little maple syrup. Serve these with roasted wedges of potatoes and fresh fennel, which are first rubbed with a paste made of 'nduja, gochugaru, and olive oil. Yeah, now we're talking.
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Ingredients
2 pounds ground pork shoulder
3.5 ounces fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup whole milk
2 large garlic cloves, grated
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, minced
3 ounces finely grated pecorino
Morton’s kosher salt
Black pepper
2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed
2 fennel bulbs, tops and fronds removed
1 ounce ‘nduja *, room temperature
1 lemon, finely grated zest and 2 tablespoons of the juice
1 tablespoon gochugaru * or 1/2 tablespoon hot paprika
Olive oil
1 large shallot, sliced thinly
1 Fresno chile, sliced thinly
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Additional fresh oregano for garnish
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425° with a rack in the center.
- In a large bowl, stir the milk into the breadcrumbs and let sit for a few minutes to be sure the breadcrumbs have absorbed all the milk. Add the ground pork, grated garlic cloves, oregano, pecorino, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons Morton’s kosher salt, and plenty of black pepper. Mix together until well combined, but try to do it as gently as possible so that you don’t overmix, which will make the patties tough. Form into 8 three quarter inch thick patties and place on a plate. Cover and chill while preparing the potatoes and fennel.
- Slice the potatoes into 6 to 8 long wedges. Place on a half sheet pan. Slice both bulbs of fennel through the core into 6 wedges. Place on the pan with the potatoes. In a small bowl, using a whisk, combine the ‘nduja, lemon juice, gochugaru, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and several grinds of black pepper until well mixed. Spoon the sauce over the potatoes and fennel and toss until thoroughly coated - I used my hands for this. Bake for 40 minutes, flipping the potatoes and fennel at the midway point. Remove from the oven.
- About 20 minutes before the vegetables come out of the oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. When good and hot, add the pork patties and cook without moving them for 5 minutes. Flip the patties and continue cooking for about 4 minutes - until the inside registers 145° on an instant read thermometer, and adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent them from burning. Remove from the skillet and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
- Add the sliced shallots to the skillet and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until softened. Add the sliced chile and sautè for another minute. Add the canned tomatoes and their juices, 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and the sauce has thickened slightly.
- Spoon some sauce onto a dinner plate and top with a pork patty. Add a couple wedges of potatoes and fennel. Garnish with fresh oregano leaves and Enjoy!