Creamy Northern Italian Sauteed Pork

This creamy sauteed pork is a northern Italian winter comfort meal made with diced pork, sausage, peas, carrot and celery, finished with cream and tomato sauce. It is faster to make than a stew and can be prepared ahead. For a festive dinner party, I serve it in the centre of a tricolor rice timbale.

This is a saute, not a stew.

A stew cooks slowly at a gentle heat for a long time, and it is meant for tough cuts of meat that need that time to become tender, as in my spezzatino in bianco.

Here the pork is diced small and cooks in a few minutes, then finishes in a creamy sauce.

As we rarely use cream in the south of Italy, this dish is mainly a winter main course from the north of Italy.

I make it ahead for a dinner party, so I do not have to be in the kitchen while my guests are at the table.

It can be made the day before, and on the evening of the dinner it only needs reheating.

Half of it goes in the centre of the tricolor rice timbale and the rest goes to the table in a sauce boat.

I also make it for a weeknight when I do not have time to cook a stew for a long time, because the recipe does not need a long simmering.

For more pork recipes, you can check my maiale al latte, porchetta romana, stuffed pork tenderloin with chestnuts and cranberries, pork tenderloin with apples, pulled pork or the wild boar stew with chocolate, which you can make with pork shoulder.

Ingredients

For the sauteed pork you need the following ingredients.

• Pork loin or shoulder: both work. Cut it into small pieces, because it does not cook for long.
• Sausage: I use regular sausage.
• Carrot and celery: diced.
• Frozen peas: the recipe uses frozen peas.
• Butter: for browning the meat and vegetables.
• Heavy cream: the ingredient that gives the sauce its northern character.
• Tomato sauce
• Salt or stock cube: half a cube, crumbled, to season the meat.
• All-purpose flour: to thicken the sauce.

Find the measurements in the recipe card.

Step by step instructions

1. Dice the carrot and celery the same size as the peas.
2. Boil all the vegetables together in salted water, drain them and set them aside on a plate.
3. Dice the pork small and slice the sausage into rounds.
4. Melt the butter in a wide pan and brown the pork and the sausage for a few minutes.
5. Add the vegetables and season with salt or the crumbled half stock cube.
6. Sprinkle the half teaspoon of flour over everything.
7. Stirring carefully, add the cream and the tomato sauce.
8. Cook for 15 minutes with the lid half on.

To make it ahead, cook it the day before and keep it in the fridge. Reheat it in a frying pan or in the microwave.

Serving suggestions

I serve it in the centre of the tricolor rice timbale, with the rest of the sauce in a warmed sauce boat.

It is a rich dish for the winter, and it also works for a comfort weeknight dinner, because it is quick to make compared to a stew.

With it you can serve my baked rice pilaf, fried polenta, gnocchi alla romana or Parisian gnocchi.

FAQ

Can I make the sauteed pork ahead? Yes. I cook it the day before and keep it in the fridge.

How do I reheat it? Reheat it in a frying pan or in the microwave.

Can I freeze it? Yes, as long as none of the ingredients were previously frozen.

What sausage can I use? I use regular sausage.

Can I use milk instead of cream? No, milk is too liquid.

More pork recipes

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