My mom’s family was of German background and she would often fix pork and sauerkraut for our dinner. Sauerkraut is a bit of an acquired taste and, while I love it, I wasn’t sure if my boyfriend and his family would like it. So I experimented with my mom’s version and found one that tones down the sour in sauerkraut and created a dish that they all love. I thought I’d share it with you today.

Ingredients:

  • Pork roast
  • Sauerkraut, drained (I get the kind in the glass jars)
  • Pearl onions (again, I get the ones in the glass jars)
  • Baby white potatoes (if you use the canned ones you will need to drain them)
  • White wine (a cooking wine is good here, but I prefer to use a wine that I like to drink)
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Seasonings for the pork:

  • Mrs. Dash Table Blend
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Onion powder
  • Garlic powder
  • Ground cumin

Directions:

  • I use a large, cast iron Dutch oven to brown the meat and then cook the whole dish in. You can use any large roasting dish you want, I just like the way that cast iron works for meals that need to slow cook over a long period of time.
  • Add some olive oil to your roasting dish and start heating it to a medium temperature. Season all sides of the pork and place in your roasting dish. You’re not trying to cook the pork here, just get a nice browning on all sides.
  • When the pork is nice and brown all over, remove it from the dish and set aside. Pour in about 3/4 cup of the wine and use it to deglaze the roasting dish. Use a spoon to make sure that you get all the tasty bits unstuck from the bottom of the dish.
  • Put the pork back in the pot, add 1/2 cup of water, put the lid on the pot and put it in a 300 degree oven for about an hour. The length of time will depend upon the size of the pork roast that you are using. I usually get about a 4 pound roast.
  • After the meat has cooked for a while, remove it from the oven. Carefully take the roast out of the pot and set aside. Add about 1/3 of your sauerkraut to the bottom of the roasting dish. Stir it around so that it soaks up all the good stuff from the pot.
  • Put the pork back in and then layer the remaining ingredients. The liquid from the pearl onions will add a bit of sweetness to the sauerkraut. I find that there is enough salt in the other items that I add, so I don’t add any more.
  • Bake at 325 degrees for about another 40 minutes.

Serve with a nice green salad and some crusty brown bread.

Enjoy!