ROMANIAN PORK AND SPINACH STEW
750 g lean pork meat
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, medium to large
1 kg spinach, weighed after removing the stems
250 ml tomato puree
50 ml vegetable broth
3 large garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or more to taste
salt and pepper
Chop the meat into pretty small cubes. Chop the onion finely.
Heat the oil in a large, deep pot and cook the onion for about 1 minutes. Add the meat cubes, stir well, cover, turn down the heat and cook for about 10 minutes.
Add half of the tomato puree, the vegetable broth and about ¼ teaspoon salt to the meat. Cover again and continue stewing on low heat for about 30-40 minutes or until the meat is very tender. Stir from time to time and add very little extra water you think it might get too dry.
In the meantime remove the stalks of the spinach and chop the spinach leaves very roughly, large leaves will only be sliced two or three times, otherwise leave the spinach leaves whole. Wash the spinach.
Add the wet spinach to the pot. Leave it for a couple of minutes until wilted, add the remaining tomato puree, then stir well and cover again. Continue cooking for about 10-15 minutes or until the spinach is cooked but not mushy. Chop the garlic finely and add it to the pot during the last five minutes of the cooking time.
Adjust the taste with the lemon juice and salt and pepper.
Serve with bread or potatoes or rice.
Recipe posted by Adam Cloete
Photo: Adam Cloete
