Hopping Pig
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Sometimes when you eat at a restaurant, the food is so good that you immediately take notes to try and replicate that dish at home. Sometimes you decide to replicate it for other reasons.
I won’t go into details about the fated dish, but I’ll say that I enjoyed my re-creation so much that I made it twice in the span of 5 days, which is kind of a lot when considering pork belly. I decided to name it after the restaurant that gave us the first taste of the dish – after all, it does bear resemblance to the dish Hoppin’ John, and you can certainly serve it over rice if you desire a more hearty meal.
The original used white beans instead of fresh summer peas, but I think the change makes the dish a little brighter and more suited to our hot temperatures. If using white beans, the dish transitions well into fall, as we start to get more of the cold-weather greens in.
I was lucky enough to have some smoked pork belly confit on hand from Kocurek Family Charcuterie, but if you don’t have pork belly or would prefer not to use it, I recommend using a smoked kielbasa. You could just as easily use grilled chicken or perhaps even tofu, but you’ll miss out on that deep flavor.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup summer peas
- Olive oil
- 2 shallots, diced finely
- 2/3 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 slices thick-cut pork belly
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, gently boil the peas for about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a large, flat saucepan over medium. Add oil and heat through, then add shallots and cook until aromatic.
- Drain peas and add to shallots. Stir in broth, wine, and lemon juice, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occassionally and making sure the liquid has not completely evaporated. (If it has, add more broth.) Salt and pepper to taste. Add spinach and re-cover pan.
- In the meantime, heat a frying pan to medium and add pork belly. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until fat starts to firm up and get a crisp edge. Remove from heat.
- Once spinach has wilted and the liquid is mostly gone, stir in butter until melted.
- To serve, pour peas into two bowls and lay two slices of pork belly on each.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate based on online calculators. Any nutritional information found on Stetted should be used as a general guideline only.
About Megan
I focus on fresh ingredients and easy methods, with spins that keep meals interesting. Dinnertime shouldn’t be stressful or complicated, and I’m here to help you enjoy the time spent in the kitchen. Read more…
My husband is not a big fan of beans but he loves his peas. He’d enjoy this dish. I’d enjoy the fact that it takes little time to prepare.
@Paula, these are actually beans, but because they are fresh I think they have a different quality. Though, now I am kind of wondering how this would taste with green peas.
just looks delicious, friend. i just inherited my grandmother’s cast iron cornbread skillet and i can’t think of a better way to showcase my first batch from it. after church sunday dinner is going to be a special treat this week. thanks!
Now that I’ve found a source for pork belly I can read a recipe like this and get excited instead of frustrated! I’m with Paula…quick AND tasty is always a winner in my book.
Just reading the recipe tells me that this is going to be so much more than what we experienced. Thanks for doing it right! Although, I’m thinking I’ll lead with the lime.
now THAT is something that would comfort me on any given sad, rainy day!!!
“Resemblence”? Oh, Megan. 😉
Looks great!
Ahem, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Oh boy, I know that feeling well. I’m constantly nuggeting away little bits of information about meals I’ve enjoyed so that I can attempt to recreate them at home.
If my housemate saw this she’d be begging me to make it for her – we have a longstanding love affair with pork belly. Question though: what are summer peas? I’m not sure if we can find them over here…
Jax x
@Jackie, summer peas are actually beans, with varieties like purple hull peas, black-eyed peas, etc. You can definitely used dried black-eyed peas (pre cooking of course) or the larger white beans would work well, I think.
How much spinach?