Pork Meatball and Hock Stew with Beer
- Preparation 1 h 20 min
- Cooking 3 h 25 min
- Servings 6
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍲 One of the first recipes I ever put on the site
This stew has been in my rotation for years. It went up in the very first batch of recipes on the site and it never left. At home it became one of those dishes nobody asks questions about, and judging by the messages that land in my inbox every December, plenty of other kitchens feel the same way.
If you have never made a meatball stew in your life, start here.
🐖 Meatballs and hocks in the same pot
Most people pick a side. Meatballs or hocks. I put both in the same pot, and that is exactly where this dish gets interesting. The shanks go in first and simmer for two hours, long enough for the meat to fall off the bone and for the broth to build some body. The meatballs come later, rolled in toasted flour, and they finish cooking right in there. One forkful of pulled pork, one bite of meatball.
🎄 A holiday table dish, through and through
Cinnamon and clove fill the whole house for three hours straight. It takes time and it feeds a crowd. This is what I make when the family shows up, next to a Lac-Saint-Jean tourtiere, with maple syrup dumplings waiting for dessert.
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🍳 Toasted flour is the heart of this stew
It gives the colour, the nutty flavour and the thickening, all at once. Dry flour in a hot pan over medium-high heat, and you stir without stopping. It should darken slightly, to a caramel colour, and no further. You are not trying to push the flavour too far. Time is your best marker here: five to six minutes and it is done. Past that it turns bitter and you taste it in the broth right down to the last plate.
Sift it afterwards or the lumps follow you around. Then split it into two equal parts, half to roll the meatballs in, half to thicken the broth at the very end.
🧊 The fat has to go
It leaves in two stages. When you bone the cooled shanks, you pull the meat apart and throw out the fatty bits instead of dropping them back in the pot. Then, during the last hour uncovered, whatever is left rises to the surface on its own. One ladle and it is gone.
🍺 The beer is there to deglaze, not to dominate
A strong amber Belgian-style ale brings malt, orange and clove that sit right on top of the spices already on the meat. The point was never to make the dish taste like beer. Same logic in my Cajun pork stew with beer.
🥣 Meatballs that hold together
They start with bread soaked in milk. It keeps the moisture in and stops the meat from tightening up. Mix with your hands, not a spoon, a good three to four minutes. Roll them small, a tablespoon at a time, and let them firm up in the fridge while the shanks simmer. A cold meatball dropped into hot broth stays a meatball.
📅 Make it ahead
This stew is better the next day, and that is not a figure of speech. Make the whole thing the night before, let it cool, keep it in the fridge for three to four days. The spices settle and the fat firms up on top, which makes it even easier to lift off. It freezes beautifully too, meatballs and all.
🥄 No dough balls in my pot
The dumplings stay for dessert, poached in maple syrup, once the table is cleared.
✅ What do I serve with my pork meatball and hock stew?
Mashed potatoes, good country bread for mopping the bowl, and pickled beets on the side to cut through the richness. That is the whole spread. If it is a holiday meal, add a tourtiere and finish with the maple syrup dumplings.
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Ingredients
- 3 lb. (1.3 kg) pork shanks (osso bucco) in large slices without rind
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground clove
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) nutmeg
- Olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 cups (500 ml) strong amber Belgian-style ale
- 6 cups (1.5 L) of water (enough to cover)
- 1 bay leaf
Ingredients for the meatballs
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) of flour
- 2 cups (500 ml) of diced bread
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) of milk
- 1 lb. lean ground pork
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) carrot, chopped very finely
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) celery, chopped very finely
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped very finely
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Provence herbs
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground clove
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) dry mustard
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Preparation
- Remove the pork shanks from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
- In a bowl, combine cinnamon, cloves, ginger, paprika and nutmeg then mix well. Generously season the meat with salt and pepper then sprinkle the spices everywhere. Massage well to penetrate the flavours and set aside.
- In a large dutch oven casserole over medium-high heat, add about 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil and add the shanks. Sear on all sides until dark brown, about 10 to 12 minutes total. Add oil as needed. Place shanks on a plate and set aside.
- Add the onions and garlic followed by a thin stream of olive oil. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, to soften.
- Deglaze with the beer and scrape the bottom to get all the flavors! Return the meat to the casserole and add the water and bay leaf. Stir, bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until meat is very tender. Stir occasionally. (Meanwhile, make the meatballs.)
- Remove the meat from the broth and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove meat from the shanks, pulling it and taking care to discard the fatty parts. Put the meat back in the broth and keep warm.
- For meatballs: In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the flour. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring until it becomes a caramel color. Sift the flour and separate into two equal parts. Set aside.
- In a bowl, add bread and milk then toss. Soak for 2 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add the soaked bread and the remaining ingredients (except the grilled flour) and season with salt and pepper generously. Mix well with your hands for 3 to 4 minutes. Form balls using about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) at a time. Reserve in the fridge until your shanks are cooked.
- Roll the meatballs in a half of the grilled flour, to cover slightly, and put in the broth.
- Pour the rest of the grilled flour (the reserved part + if there are some left from the meatballs) in a large bowl with a couple of ladles of the broth then mix well to dissolve the flour. Pour into the casserole.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to low heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the fat that accumulates on top. Serve with bread and mashed potatoes!
Yes, and I would argue you should. This recipe uses lean ground pork with lean ground beef, roughly two parts to one. Pork brings the fat and the sweetness, beef brings the deeper savoury note and keeps the texture from going soft. Straight pork meatballs turn a little mushy after an hour in the broth. Straight beef goes dry.
Pork shanks, ground pork and beef, bread soaked in milk, finely chopped carrot, celery and onion, and a warm spice mix built on cinnamon and clove. The broth is beer and water with garlic, onions and a bay leaf. What makes it old fashioned is the flour, toasted dry in a pan until it turns caramel, which colours and thickens the whole thing.
A strong amber Belgian-style ale. Malt, dark fruit and clove, lining up with the spices already on the meat. Skip anything hoppy: the bitterness concentrates as the broth reduces.
Three to four days in the fridge in a sealed container, and the freezer does nothing to it. The meatballs will not fall apart when you reheat. Warm it slowly, stirring, with a splash of water if the broth thickened overnight. Honestly, I make a double batch on purpose just to freeze half.
Mashed potatoes first, always. Country bread to mop the bowl, pickled beets on the side for acidity, and maple syrup dumplings after, when everyone swears they are full.
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