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Season pork cheeks liberally with salt and pepper
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Put a cast iron pot over medium heat and add olive oil or chicken fat/butter.
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Once fat is heated, brown the pork cheeks thoroughly on each side in batches as to avoid crowding the pot.
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Set the browned pork cheeks aside and add the onions, carrots, celery to the pot and sauté for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and the leeks and sauté for another minute.
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Put the pork cheeks back in the pot, then add half of the white wine, allow to cook for a few minutes until wine has reduced down a bit.
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Add in the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, cream, rest of the wine, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and star anise and the entire head of garlic.
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Turn heat to medium high and let the pot come to a simmer.
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Back heat down to medium low, put a lid on the pot and leave to simmer slowly for two hours.
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When the two hours are up, remove the lid, raise the heat to medium and let the sauce reduce for about another hour or until thickened.
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While the sauce reduces, you can skim off some of the fat, that floats to the surface… Or not, choice is yours.
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After a total cooking time of about three hours, carefully fish out the star anise, bay leaves and head of garlic.
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Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. If everything seems a little too rich, you can add a splash of sherry vinegar to cut through the rich, fatty flavors.
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Serve with mashed potatoes, root vegetable mash, pasta or rice on a cold winter day.