Porco à Alentejana (Portuguese Pork and Clams with potatoes)

My recipe for porco à alentejana, aka pork and clams with potatoes, a dish from Portugal’s Alentejo region.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of pork (shoulder), cubed

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup of white wine or vinho verde 

• 1 tbs paprika 

• 2-3 bay leaves 

• 8 ounces of clams (frozen work)

• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed 

• Handful of black olives 

• Chopped fresh parsley 

• Olive oil for the pork

• Neutral oil (vegetable or canola) for the potatoes

• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation:

A day in advance, you’re going to marinate the meat. Here’s how: Combine all of the cubed pork with salt (about 1 teaspoon), pepper (1/2 teaspoon), the white wine, paprika, bay leaves, and garlic in a medium glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Right before you’re ready to cook the rest of this dish, place your clams in a bowl of water with salt so they begin to clean/open up. Let them sit for about 15-20 minutes.

Next, peel and chop your potatoes. Leave them in a bowl of cold water with a little bit of salt. Set aside. 

Cooking:

Take out your marinated pork out of the fridge. Drain the pork but save the marinade. Heat a pan or skillet to medium heat, add some olive oil and cook the pork until it’s browned. Once the pork is golden brown, add the clams and marinade to that skillet. Let them cook for about 5-7 mins and take off the heat once the clams are all opened. In a separate pan, fry your potatoes in the neutral oil. I like to fry them in small batches because it’s easier to manage. You want the potatoes to get a golden brown. Place your potatoes on some paper towels to get rid of excess oil, once dry add them to a serving dish. Once you’re done cooking the potatoes, add the pork and clam mixture to the top of the potatoes one giant spoon full at a time. Make sure to get any juice from the meat on top, too. Top with black olives and chopped parsley.