Mediterranean slow-cooker pork stew

serves / 4 prep / 15 minutes cook / 4 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp plain flour

1kg piece pork neck

1 1⁄2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium eggplant (600g), coarsely chopped

1 brown onion, thickly sliced

1 red capsicum, cut into large strips 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tbsp thyme leaves, plus extra to serve

2 tsp chopped sage leaves 400g can white beans, drained, rinsed

1 cup chicken-style liquid stock 2 tbsp tomato paste

300g zucchini, thickly sliced Sourdough bread rolls, to serve

1. Place flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Turn pork in flour to coat and shake off excess. Reserve excess flour.

2. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook pork, turning, for 6 minutes or until browned all over. Transfer to a 3L (12 cup) capacity slow cooker.

3. Heat remaining oil in pan over medium heat. Cook eggplant, onion, capsicum, garlic, thyme and sage for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Sprinkle over reserved seasoned flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer to cooker with beans. Combine stock and tomato paste in a jug and pour over pork and vegetables. Top with zucchini. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or until pork is very tender.

4. Garnish with extra sage and thyme leaves, if desired, and bread rolls to mop up sauce.