photo credit: zoyachubby

I serve this simple Italian stew with polenta and it always gets thumbs up around our house.  I think it is named Italian stew because it contains fennel seed and rosemary.  I think the best Italian sausages are the ones that use fennel.  Fennel is native to southern Europe, so it is not surprising that Italians use it in sausage, meatballs, meatloaf, marinara sauce, etc.  Fennel is a member of the parsley family.  It was so popular with the Romans that the men took it to maintain good health and the women took it to control their weight.  Fennel seeds are sweeter and less pungent than anise seeds.

If you really like the taste of fennel, you can enhance the fennel flavor by toasting the seeds before including them in your simple Italian stew recipe.  This one is made in the crock pot, but you could bake it in the oven if you’d rather.  Probably two hours at 300 degrees.

First slice up a red bell pepper, a yellow bell pepper and an onion and place them in the crock pot with 4 cloves of garlic, minced.  In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brown up 2 1/2 pounds of boneless pork that you have cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes.  You will probably have to do this in batches.

Place the pork in the crock pot.  Now place a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes – I like the fire-roasted type – in the skillet along with 1/2 cup of dry red wine.  Boil this up while you scrape up the flavors from the bottom of the pan.  Add a teaspoon of fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of crushed rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Pour this over everything in the crock pot.  Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours.  You want your pork fork-tender.

Mix together 3 tablespoons of flour and 1/4 cup of water.  Stir this into the pot at the end of the cooking time.  Turn the heat to HIGH and cook for an additional 15 minutes to thicken your simple Italian stew.  Serve with polenta and wait for the compliments!  Mangia Bene!