This is an easy and economical casserole, which will last for a few meals and improves over time (although not too much time, obviously!)

Ingredients

• A pack of diced pork – about half a kilo (1lb or so)
• Some bacon pieces – supermarkets often have them pre-packed
• A brick of tomate frito, or a can of chopped tomatoes, or, if desperate, a generous squirt of tomato ketchup
• A can or jar of beans – white, kidney, borlotti, or even chick peas
• Diced onions – put in greater or lesser proportion according to taste or finances
• Chopped carrot, swede, celery, turnip, peppers – whatever is available
• Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves peeled and roughly chopped
• Root ginger – about the size of your thumb, peeled and chopped (the ginger, not the thumb)
• Fresh chillis or chilli powder to taste
• Fresh or dried herbs – I usually find you can put in twice what you think
• Bay leaves – two or three
• Flour
• Wine – whatever you have open
• Stock cubes or stock, (meat, vegetable or both)
• A little olive and/or vegetable oil

Method
Download and/or listen to this while cooking

• Open the pack of diced pork and sprinkle over two or three generous spoonfuls of flour
• Toss the pork in the flour until it is all coated
• Fry gently in a little oil until the pieces are beginning to turn golden brown
• Put all the veg, meat, herbs, ginger etc into a large casserole or slow cooker
• Return the frying pan to the hob and add a generous slurp of wine. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to pick up all the bits that stuck when frying the meat (technically, this is called ‘deglazing’ but bung it cookery does not use techno-speak)
• Crumble in stock cubes or add stock
• Pour stock mixture into the casserole dish
• Add water to just cover the ingredients and set to cook on a low heat for several hours
• Add the beans toward the end of the cooking time so they don’t turn to mush

Serve the casserole with jacket potatoes and green vegetables on the first day
Spice it up a bit with extra chilli powder or chillies and serve with rice the second day
Add curry spices for a third day of yumminess

Top Tip for peeling garlic

Cut off the top and tail of the clove, crush under the blade of a wide-bladed knife and the skin almost falls off. Brilliant!