Tag Archives: ground pork

Gingery Stir-Fried Pork and Asparagus

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Stir-fries are one of our go to’s when we need to make a quick dinner with lots of flavor and healthy (mostly) ingredients. And this recipe doesn’t disappoint. And the savory-sweet pork and asparagus stir-fry calls on soy sauce, oyster sauce and Sriracha for bold flavor, fast.

Minced ginger and thinly sliced scallions bring bright freshness, while rings of Fresno chili contribute crunch and heat. For less of a kick, seed the chili before slicing. Ground pork is used so there’s no need to trim or slice the meat, keeping prep to a minimum. Pencil-size asparagus works best here; if your spears are smaller or larger, adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Instead of a skillet as the recipe suggests, we usually use our wok for most stir-fries. And as an additional garnish, we added some peanuts for another crunch. Don’t forget to add 2 tablespoons water to the soy sauce mixture. Just that small amount of liquid helps form a light, glaze-like sauce. Serve the stir-fry over steamed rice and top with a fried egg for a quick rice bowl.

Gingery Stir-Fried Pork and Asparagus

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 tsp. Sriracha
  • 1 tsp. cornstarch
  • 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral oil
  • 1 lb. medium asparagus, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
  • 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, whites and greens reserved separately
  • 1 Fresno chili, stemmed and sliced into thin rings
  • Cocktail peanuts as garnish, optional

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, Sriracha, cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; set aside.
  2. 02In a nonstick 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until barely smoking. Add the asparagus and cook, tossing occasionally, until tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl; set aside.
  3. 03To the same skillet over medium-high, add the pork and cook, stirring to break it up into smallish chunks, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ginger and scallion whites, then cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir the soy mixture to recombine, then pour it into the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is simmering and has thickened, about 1 minute. Return the asparagus to the skillet and add the chili; cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the scallion greens, and peanuts if using.

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Recipe by Rose Hattabaugh for Milk Street

Smoky Chili-Garlic Pork Burgers

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Here’s taking that ordinary burger and kickin’ it up a notch or ten. These burgers exude a spicy-sweet flavor and mild garlickiness, by mixing Asian chili-garlic sauce and a little brown sugar into the ground pork; and then add a smear on the buns with a chili-garlic mayonnaise. Woweee!!

Pillow-soft, subtly sweet buns are a particularly good match for the tender, juicy burgers—potato buns or rolls are the perfect match. Serve with lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles or any of your favorite burger toppings. They are so good, you don’t even mind the absence of cheese.

Smoky Chili-Garlic Pork Burgers

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup mayonnaise
  • 5 tsp. plus 2 Tbsp. chili-garlic sauce, divided
  • 3 tsp. packed brown sugar, divided
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 tsp. smoked paprika
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. neutral oil
  • 4 hamburger buns, preferably potato buns

Directions

  1. Mix the mayonnaise, 5 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce and 1 teaspoon sugar.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the pork, paprika, the remaining 2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce, the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
  3. Form into 4 patties. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the patties and cook, flipping once, until well browned on both sides and the centers reach 160°F, 8 to 10 minutes total.
  4. Serve in buns spread with the mayonnaise mixture.

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Recipe by Calvin Cox for Milk Street

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Ground Pork and Peanuts

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In this quick and spicy weeknight noodle dish, sizzling hot oil is poured over red-pepper flakes, orange peel, crunchy peanuts, soy sauce and sesame oil. While you brown the ground pork, the mixture sits, and the flavors become more pronounced and fiery.

Tossed with soft noodles and browned pork, the bright chile-peanut oil shines. For something green, throw in a quick-cooking green vegetable like baby spinach when you break up the pork in Step 3. You can also swap the pork with ground chicken, turkey, or beef, or crumbled tofu.

It is suggested not to use the entire amount of chili oil. Therefore, I found it easier to strain the peanut chili oil over a bowl. This way you can toss the peanuts, noodles and ground meat together, adding additional oil to taste. And it was easier to toss it all in the larger pot as opposed to the skillet.

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Ground Pork and Peanuts

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1½ Tbsp. red-pepper flakes
  • 1½ Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1½ tsp. toasted sesame oil, plus more as needed
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 1″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. neutral oil, like grapeseed or vegetable
  • 6 Tbsp. roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
  • Rind of ½ orange, peeled into 2- to 3-inch strips
  • 1 lb. ground chicken
  • 5 oz. baby spinach
  • 10 to 12 oz. ramen or udon noodles, preferably fresh
  • 3 Tbsp. finely chopped chives

Directions

  1. In a medium heatproof bowl, stir together the red-pepper flakes, soy sauce and sesame oil. Set next to the stovetop.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, cook the ½ cup oil, peanuts and orange rind, shaking the pan occasionally, until the peanuts are golden and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour the contents of the skillet over the red-pepper mixture (be careful of splattering!) and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, in the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add the pork and press it down with a wooden spoon into a thin layer. Season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper and cook, without stirring, occasionally pressing the layer of meat down, until the bottom is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain excess oil from pan.
  4. Add minced ginger and garlic to the pan with browned meat. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Break the pork up into small pieces, add the spinach, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
  5. While the pork cooks, cook the noodles according to package directions, until chewy but not soft. Drain and toss with a bit of sesame oil; return to pot.
  6. Remove and discard the orange rind from the chile oil. Strain the peanut-chili oil over a small bowl.
  7. Off the heat, add enough chile oil to coat the pork and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Add the meat mixture and peanuts to the pot with noodles and toss, adding more chile oil to fully coat the noodles and pork. (If you don’t use all of the chile oil, you can store it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks in an airtight container.) Top with chives and serve at once.

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Loosely adapted from recipe by Ali Slagle for NYTimes

Sluovaki-Inspired Blended Burger

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Burgers are such a versatile meal. Be it beef, turkey mushroom, pork, vegetarian, the options are endless, as are the toppings. This one is “Going to the Greek” and takes you in a different direction.

The instructions indicate to create 4 burger patties from the meat and mushroom mixture. We felt that they were too large, so we divided the mixture into 5 equal portions. That’s why under assembly the amounts show 4 or 5 of the lettuce, buns, etc. Our large nonstick skillet wasn’t quite large enough for the 5 patties without them touching each other so we used our griddle atop the stove.

Make sure to have enough napkins because it was quite a challenge to eat the assembled burger due to height, and therefore can be a bit messy. We wondered if perhaps instead of a bun, that a pita pocket might be a better bet. A side oven-baked onion rings complimented the burgers.

Sluovaki-Inspired Blended Burger

  • Servings: 4-5
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Tzatziki Sauce:

  • 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (with at least 2% milk fat; do not use non-fat)
  • 1/3 cup grated seedless English cucumber, patted dry with paper towels
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh dill fronds
  • 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced

Burgers:

  • 16 oz. ground pork
  • 8 oz. white button mushrooms, finely chopped (use a mini food processor for this task)
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Assembly:

  • 4-5 butter lettuce leaves
  • 4-5 soft white hamburger buns, split
  • 4-5 sliced rings red onion
  • 2 Tbsp. crumbled feta cheese
  • 16-20 thin slices seedless English cucumber
  • 8-10 slices Roma tomato

Directions

  1. For the tzatziki sauce: Combine the yogurt, cucumber, dill, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  2. For the burgers: Combine the pork, mushrooms, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Form into 4 equal-size patties. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil into separate shallow bowls. Dip both sides of each patty into the lemon juice, then into the olive oil to coat.
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties in the hot skillet, flipping once, until the pork is just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes per side.
  4. For the assembly: Put 1 lettuce leaf on each bottom bun. Dollop each leaf with about 2 tablespoons tzatziki sauce (reserve the remaining sauce), then top with 1 patty and 1 red onion slice. Mix the feta into the reserved tzatziki sauce and spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons onto each burger, followed by 4 cucumber slices and 2 tomato slices. Close the burgers with the top buns. Serve immediately.

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Recipe adapted from Sarah Meuser, 2022 Blended Burger Contest Winner

Parmesan Meatloaf

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Scrolling through Facebook, I saw this “simple” meatloaf recipe, and thought why not? Just as there are loads of meatball recipes, so goes it with meatloaves. And yes, it really was quite simple. If you make up the mix in the morning, you can then just pop it into a preheated oven for one hour before dinner; just make sure to let it rest for 10 minutes afterward.

*A trick I learned ages ago to eliminate some of the fat, is halfway through the cooking time, fold up a few paper towels and pat up the grease that has risen to the top. At this point I add a few ladles of the pasta sauce on top and return it to the oven. Once you cut out the first slice, you can then use a baster to suck up the remaining liquid/fat. Another approach is to form the loaf free-style and place it on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

Whichever method you prefer, do not overwork the meat mixture when combining all of the ingredients, otherwise it will be dense and tough. The key is to keep it loose, soft and airy.

We paired ours with a Roasted Bell Pepper and Tomato side dish which cooked at the same temperature as the meatloaf. With some of the leftovers we combined it with cooked pasta and more of the sauce used for the meatloaf topping.

Parmesan Meatloaf

  • Servings: 1 loaf
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1 small yellow onion (grated)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup of your favorite pasta sauce (marinara sauce, homemade, meatless)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the ground pork and beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Try not over handle the mixture, otherwise it will get tough.
  3. Place the mixture in the greased loaf pan, and form into a loaf. Top the meatloaf with pasta sauce. (*Or follow the approach mentioned above.)
  4. Place filled loaf pan on a baking sheet, and bake for 1 hour.
  5. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and drain any grease from the meats at this time.
  6. Sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese.
  7. Place the meatloaf back in the oven, and bake until the cheese is melted.
  8. Remove the meatloaf from the oven, and let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

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Recipe from Grandma’s Old Recipes

Thai Stir-Fried Pork with Basil, Chilies and Garlic

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The Thai name for this dish is Pad Krapao meaning “fried holy basil”. It is a fragrant, flavor-packed Thai stir-fry. Despite the dishes name, the basil isn’t actually fried, but wilted into the mix at the very end of cooking.

Our holy basil—which has a peppery, menthol-like bite—was done for the season, so we opted to use our fresh Thai basil, still going strong in the raised herb bed. Sweet Italian basil is a third choice; but if using either of the last two, you’ll need to use 50% more.

To top it all off, a fried egg with a runny yolk is used, adding creaminess while the crisp edges provide crunch. Not typically a fan of runny yolks, I decided to go with it for this recipe. Glad I did because it did add not only to the flavor but also the contrasting textures.

As with most stir-fries, don’t start cooking until all of the ingredients are prepped and near the stove. And don’t cook those eggs in advance because they should still be warm when added to the dish. If you prefer a more fiery kick, don’t discard the chili seeds.

Thai Stir-Fried Pork with Basil, Chilies and Garlic

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 7 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 4 or 5 Fresno chilies. stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. packed light brown sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. grapeseed oil, divided
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 cups (1oz.) lightly packed holy basil OR 3 cups lightly packed Thai or Italian basil, torn
  • Steamed jasmine rice to serve

Directions

  1. In a food processor, combine the garlic and chilies. Pulse until finely chopped, with some slightly larger pieces remaining, 8 to 10 pulses.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the oyster sauce, sou sauce, fish sauce, sugar and a 1⁄2 cup water. Set both the garlic-chili mixture and the sauce mixture near the stove.
  3. In a 12- or 14-inch wok over medium-high, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until barely smoking. Reduce to medium, the crack 2 eggs into the center of the wok, each in a different spot. Use a silicone spatula to gently push edges of the egg whites toward the yolk to keep the eggs separate.
  4. Cook, occasionally spooning some of the hot oil over the eggs until the whites are crisp and brown on the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a thin metal spatula, transfer the eggs to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining to 2 eggs. Wipe out wok.
  5. Return the wok to medium-high and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oiluntil barely smoking. Add the garic-chili mixture and cook, stirring until fragrant and lightly browned.
  6. Add the pork and cook, stirring, until the meat is broken up into mostly small bits, 1 to 2 minutes.
  7. Add the sauce mixture and cook, stirring, until pork is no longer pink and the liquid thickens slightly but remains saucy, about 3 minutes.
  8. Off heat add the basil and stir until just wilted. Divide the rice and the stir-fry among serving plates and top each with an egg.

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Adapted from a recipe by Courtney Hill for Milk Street

Sizzling Pork and Eggplant Hiyayakko

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According to Bon Appétit where we sourced this recipe, Hiyayakko is a Japanese warm-weather starter or side dish made of a small square of chilled silken tofu, a sprinkling of toppings, and saucy drizzles (think a heap of bonito flakes and puddle of soy sauce, or fresh tomatoes with ponzu).

In this version, the simple template goes family-style, with sliced silken tofu carefully shingled on a platter, topped with a savory ground pork and eggplant stir-fry. The combination of cold, custardy tofu and hot, saucy pork was a bit odd in our opinion. We think next time we’d use firm tofu and flash-fry slabs of it in a hot skillet, then shingle it on a platter.

Fresh basil from the garden showered on top was the perfect garnish. If Thai basil is accessible, use that. Unable to source Chinese or Japanese eggplant, we substituted an Italian variety which is typically larger, and therefore had to slice it down differently.

The hubs thought it would be good over steamed rice. While I agree, it is no longer a low-carb or as high a protein meal. Your call…

Sizzling Pork and Eggplant Hiyayakko

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 16-oz. packages silken tofu
  • 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
  • 2 medium Chinese or Japanese eggplant (about 8 oz. total), cut into 3″-long pieces, quartered lengthwise
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 red Thai chiles, thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 2″ piece ginger, scrubbed, finely grated
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
  • 4 Tbsp. soy sauce, divided
  • 3 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar, divided
  • Basil leaves (for serving)

Directions

  1. Wrap tofu in a few layers of paper towels to absorb moisture; place on a plate. Chill until ready to use.
  2. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook eggplant, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in same skillet. Cook pork, breaking up meat, 1 minute. Add chiles, garlic, ginger, and sugar and cook, stirring and continuing to break up meat into small pieces, until pork is no longer pink and mixture is fragrant, about 4 minutes.
  4. Return eggplant to skillet; add fish sauce, 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, and 2 Tbsp. vinegar. Cook, stirring often, until liquid is mostly absorbed and eggplant is browned and tender, about 3 minutes. Add remaining 2 Tbsp. soy sauce and remaining 1 Tbsp. vinegar and cook, stirring, until mixture is slightly saucy, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
  5. Carefully unwrap tofu; slice crosswise ½”-thick. Shingle tofu on a platter. Spoon eggplant mixture over; top with basil.

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Adapted from a recipe by Kendra Vaculin for Bon Appétit

Brussels Sprouts and Spicy Fennel Sausage Pizza

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Yes, you could just order a pizza and have it delivered, but how fun is that? Been there, done that, right—like at least 5,000 times? Why not throw one together at home for a change and exercise that creative muscle.

We first saw this version in a recent Fine Cooking Magazine article. Now I must admit, Brussels sprouts is not the first topping I think of, nor is it in even in the top ten! And why make the “sausage” yourself when you can buy it already flavored? Truth is, we like a culinary challenge. Plus, you can adjust the seasonings to suit your personal preferences.

It starts with the pizza dough which we bought at the supermarket, but go ahead and make one if you’re so inclined. The recipe calls for one pound, but ours weighed in at about 2/3 of a pound, which, because we prefer thin crust, was not an issue for us. We just knew we’d have to make a few adjustments.

What was bothering me, was putting the veggies slices on the pie without cooking them first. I knew there was no way they’d be tender enough in just a few short minutes in the oven. Therefore I had the brilliant idea to sauté them briefly in the hot sausage fat. Then I returned the cooked sausage to the veggies and kept them all warm while the crust got happy in the oven.

Verdict? It was real good! Now we won’t be so hesitant to think of Brussels sprouts as a pizza topping… Our changes are included in the directions below.

TIP: Sausage can be made ahead and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure to rewarm it before topping the pizza.

Brussels Sprouts and Spicy Fennel Sausage Pizza

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb. pizza dough
  • 12 oz. ground pork
  • 1 tsp. fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1 lb. fresh Brussels sprouts, very thinly sliced 
  • 2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese (8 oz.)
  • 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced 
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 500°F. Adjust oven rack to lowest position.
  2. Place dough on a well-oiled 17×13-inch baking pan or a 14-inch pizza pan. Press and stretch the dough to the edges of the pan. Let dough rest 5 minutes. If necessary, stretch dough again to cover pan. (This took me several attempts and at least 30 minutes to accomplish.)
  3. In a large bowl combine pork, fennel seeds, salt, and crushed red pepper. Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Drop 1/2-inch pieces of meat mixture into the hot skillet. Cook until meat is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.
  4. Meanwhile, trim bottoms from Brussels sprouts and remove any browned outer leaves. Thinly slice the sprouts.
  5. Remove sausage from skillet with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Add the Brussels sprouts and onion slices to the hot sausage fat. Cook for several minutes until they begin to soften. Place sausage back into skillet with the veggies, turn the heat to low and keep warm.
  6. Bake the pizza dough on lowest oven rack for 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Remove crust from oven.
  7. Top with half the cheese, sausage, Brussels sprouts, onion, and garlic. Add the remaining cheese and drizzle with 1 Tbsp. oil. Bake 10 to 12 minutes more or until edges are crisp and toppings are browned, turning pan once to ensure even browning. (Because our crust was so thin, and the toppings were warm when we assembled the pie, our pizza only took 5 minutes.)
  8. If desired, drizzle with additional olive oil before serving.

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Loosely adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking Magazine

Pork Burgers with Flavor Galore!

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How about another twist to the all-american hambuger? You don’t even have to get a grill going because these Smoky Chili-Garlic Pork Burgers are done directly in a skillet. And no special skills are needed here, just a willingness to mix a few ingredients together and give one flip to each pattie. OK, and add a slice of provolone cheese if that’s the way you roll.

Speaking of rolling, the original recipe indicated to make four patties from one pound of pork. Well, we roll a bit bigger than that, making three burgers from a one-pound-plus package of meat. And yes, we did top them with a slice of provolone!

The secret to these burgers is the spicy-sweet flavor and a mild garlickiness from some Asian chili-garlic sauce and a little brown sugar mixed into the ground pork. Plus a smear of chili-garlic mayonnaise on the buns to complete the package. Pillow-soft, subtly sweet buns, such as brioche or potato rolls, are a particularly good match for the tender, juicy burgers.

Garnish with Bibb lettuce leaves, sliced heirloom tomato, and dill pickle chips. Our side of apple cranberry slaw was the perfect counterpoint to the smoky, spicy burgers. But be aware, these puppies pack some heat, so if you harbor a delicate palette, these may not be for you. They had our names written all over them!

Smoky Chili-Garlic Pork Burgers

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup mayonnaise
  • 3 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. chili-garlic sauce, divided
  • 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar, divided
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 tsp. smoked paprika
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. neutral oil
  • 3-4 hamburger buns, preferably brioche or potato rolls
  • Bibb lettuce
  • Large slicing tomato, preferably heirloom
  • Sliced provolone cheese or your preference, (optional)
These patties have not quite come to 160° yet.

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce and 1 teaspoon sugar.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the pork, paprika, the remaining 2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce, the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
  3. Form into 3 or 4 patties. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet (or a carbon steel skillet like us), heat the oil until shimmering. Add the patties, turn the heat down to medium and cook, flipping once, until well browned on both sides and the centers reach 160°F, 8 to 10 minutes total (perhaps a minute or two longer if you made 3 larger patties).
  4. If desired, add a slice of cheese while the patties are still in the pan, turn off the heat and cover for one minute to allow the cheese to melt.
  5. Serve in buns spread with the mayonnaise mixture and topped with lettuce, tomato and pickle chips.

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Adapted from a recipe found on Milk Street

Rotini with Ground Pork and Spicy Peanut Sauce

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Chitalian Fusion is what we dubbed this pairing of satay like flavors with pasta and green herbs. Flavorful, but not too hot. You may not expect bright, Asian-inspired flavors to be paired with Italian rotini pasta, but it’s a great choice for holding onto the sauce. Like Pad Thai, although easier to eat than with the long noodles—yet where are the veggies?

My initial issue was the overall drab color of the dish. Cooked pork, with regular pasta, peanut butter and scallions—where’s the color? So I started with tri-colored rotini, and added snow peas and three small, different colored baby bell peppers. Now it was a fiesta on a plate, visually appealing enough to want to dive in.

Rotini with Ground Pork and Spicy Peanut Sauce

  • Servings: 4-5
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • Kosher salt
  • 12 oz. tri-colored rotini
  • 1-1/2 Tbs. peanut oil
  • 8 oz. snow peas, strings removed, cut in half on a diagonal
  • 3 baby bell peppers, stems removed, seeded, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4″ strips
  • 6 medium scallions, thinly sliced, whites and greens separated
  • 2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 3 Tbs. soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs. unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbs. sambal oelek or other Asian chile paste; more to taste
  • 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter, preferably natural
  • 2/3 cup chicken broth
  • 1 Tbs. Asian sesame oil
  • 1 medium lime, cut into 4 wedges
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro as garnish

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rotini and cook according to package directions until al dente.
  2. Meanwhile, heat a 12-inch heavy-duty skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, when hot toss in the snow peas and bell pepper strips. Cook about 2 minutes and remove to another dish.
  3. Add the scallion whites to the hot pan. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute.
  4. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.
  5. Crumble in the pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until it loses its pink color, about 5 minutes.
  6. Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, sambal oelek, and sugar and cook until bubbling. Add the peanut butter and stir until incorporated.
  7. Pour in the broth, stir well, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  8. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, drain the pasta. Add the pasta and the snow pea mix to the pork and scallions.
  9. Thin the sauce with the pasta water, if necessary. Divide among plates or bowls, squeeze a lime wedge over each serving, and top with cilantro.

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Adapted from a recipe by Bruce Weinstein, Mark Scarbrough from Fine Cooking