The sourness of pickles, tomato, and Balsamic and red wine vinegars are balanced by the sweetness of brandy, raisins and sugar in this rustic stew.
Cook’s notes
Until I encountered agrodolce, I always thought that sweet and sour dishes were an Asian thing. I was wrong.
In Italian cooking, agro is sour; dolce is sweet. But you already guessed that, right? Spezzatino is a class of dishes similar to what we call stew cooked with cuts of veal, lamb, pork or beef that require long and slow cooking. Spezzatino is traditionally served as a second course.
Italian agrodolce is not the same as the sweet sour sauce in your Chinese food. While vinegar and sugar are the basic ingredients, dried fruit (golden raisins in this recipe) is an important part of the mixture.
The choice of vinegar affects the final flavor of agrodolce. Red wine vinegar is traditional in Sicily. Substituting Balsamic vinegar adds sweetness. I used both to cook my Italian-style sweet sour pork stew.
Italian-style sweet sour pork stew (spezzatino agrodolce)
Ingredients
- 750 grams skinless pork shoulder (1.65 pounds) cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
- ¼ cup brandy
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar divided
- ⅓ cup golden raisins
- 6 tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 2 large green bell peppers deseeded, cored and finely chopped
- 2 large red bell peppers deseeded, cored and finely chopped
- 1 onion peeled finely chopped
- 4 pickles drained and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cups broth (chicken broth is used here)
- 2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 15 to 20 pitted olives
Instructions
- Place the pork in a bowl. Add the brandy and balsamic vinegar. Mix. Cover the bowl and marinate the pork in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Place the raisins in a bowl, cover with hot water and leave to soak.
- Heat half of the olive oil in a pot. Add the bell peppers, onion and pickles and saute for about five minutes or until the vegetables start to turn soft. Scoop out and move to a bowl.
- Pour the remaining olive oil into the pan and heat.
- Spread the marinated pork in the hot oil and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned.
- Stir the remaining half of Balsamic vinegar with the tomato paste.
- Add the sauteed vegetables, Balsamic vinegar-tomato paste mixture, and drained raisins to the pork, and stir well.
- Pour in two cups broth, and add the sugar and the red wine vinegar.
- Sprinkle in a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper, and stir.
- Set the heat to low, cover the pot and cook the pork until tender. If the sauce dries out before the pork is ready, add the remaining broth, no more than a quarter cup at a time.
- Stir in the olives and simmer for another five minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed, before serving.
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