Slow Braised Pigs Cheeks

This recipe for slow braised pigs cheeks was explained to us by Conche who works in Orce butchers. Now we have to admit to never having had pigs cheeks before so a local recipe was just what we needed to create a culinary delight from something which would have simply ended up as an experiment! The pigs cheeks are braised for 4 hours in white wine with the end result being that the meat simply falls away from the bone. If you have never had pigs cheeks before then we highly recommend this recipe, delicious and packed full of flavour.

You will need:

4 Pigs cheeks
2 Large potatoes
1 Large onion
6 Cloves of garlic
Small bunch parsley
70cl White wine
Salt
Pepper

Method

• Prepare the ingredients by roughly chopping the potatoes into inch square pieces, slice the onion and peel the garlic.

• Preheat your oven to 180°C.

• Place the pigs cheeks in a large baking tray and arrange the potatoes, onion and garlic around the meat. Sprinkle with the parsley and season well with salt and pepper.

• Pour in three quarters of the wine, approximately 50cl or 500mls.

• Place the pigs cheeks in the oven and cook for 20 minutes on 180 degrees before turning down to 120°C. Cook for a further 4 hours.

• Check the baking tray and add more wine if required.

• Remove the ingredients from the tray, arrange on plates and serve with seasonal vegetables or fresh crusty bread.

Serves 2 – 3