My Maw Maw used to make her sugo with bone-in pork chops and I’ve never been able to recreate it. This recipe is inspired with her in mind, but I developed a surefire way to get great flavor and pork that falls apart using a slow cooker, pork loin, and pork bones. I served it over spaghetti squash but it would also be great over roasted brussels sprouts, rice, or pasta if that’s what you like!
Slow Cooker Pork Sugo with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
1 head of garlic
2.5-3 lbs pork loin
salt and pepper
olive oil for browning
45 oz tomato sauce (BPA free, I like Hunt’s tetra paks)
6 oz tomato paste
a few pork bones (you can buy super cheap at the grocery store and adds mucho flavor)
1/2 ts dried parsley
1/2 ts dried basil
2 bay leaves
1/2 ts red pepper flakes
Toppings: freshly grated Pecorino Romano, fresh basil and/or fresh parsley
Directions
Heat oven to 400ºF. Cut of top of garlic head (about 1/4″), wrap in foil, bake in oven for about 40 minutes. You can do this while the pork sugo is cooking or near the end of cook time if you want. Then, you will just squeeze roasted garlic in at some point before serving or while cooking.
Heat up some olive oil in a saute pan over med high heat. Season both sides of pork loin with salt and pepper. Brown for a few minutes on each side in saute pan until golden brown.
Place pork in slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients besides toppings. Stir around. Cook on low for 8 hours (at 7 hours or so, you can tear up pork with a fork and remove bones). Watch for small bones that may have broken off during cooking.
Note: If you want to serve over spaghetti squash, cut it in half and remove seeds, bake at 400º on a parchment lined baking sheet for 30-45 minutes until squash peels easily with a fork like spaghetti.
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