Pork and fennel are perfect flavour pairs. In this recipe I’ve used fennel seeds as well as chopped fennel bulbs. You can serve this as a one bowl wonder with a slice of crusty bread or as a ragu for pasta with some Parmesan cheese grated on top.

It might take a few minutes to crush the fennel seeds and chop the veg up but once you’ve got it all in the pot it really only takes about 20 minutes or so to cook down. As with most casseroles like this it’s often best to cook this and serve it the following day so that all the flavours can really work together but it’s also really tasty served immediately.

Ingredients:

• 1 small chopped onion
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 2 chopped fennel bulbs
• 500g minced pork
• 390ml tomato passata
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon crushed fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Sliced leaves from 1 Savoy cabbage
• 200ml dry cider (optional – you can replace with water)
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Add the oil, chopped onion, garlic and fennel to a heavy bottomed pot and fry for about 5 – 10 mins until the onion and fennel have softened
2. Add the mince and brown fort about 5 minutes then add the tomato paste and fennel seeds
3. Mix everything together then add the passata, cider, cabbage leaves and sugar and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the meat is cooked
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Serve on it’s own with crusty bread or as a ragu for pasta.