Slow-cooked pork with fennel and olives

Sorry, no pictures this time, but this is an easy and different recipe for this time of year and will always get raves from the assembled multitudes.  Just the thing for a chilly evening.


4 tablespoons olive oil 
3-4 pounds boneless Boston butt or pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 large onions, chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted & crushed
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered.  
1 cup Mediterranean olives (I like mixed green and black). Buy them pitted or pit them yourself
2 large fennel bulbs, fronds & cores removed, cut into pieces 
Balsamic vinegar 
Salt & freshly ground pepper 
1⁄4 cup Italian parsley, chopped


Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy Dutch oven over medium- high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper. Add it to the pot in batches so as not to crowd it and cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer the pork to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot and turn the heat down to low. Add the onions and sauté until very tender, about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 3 minutes until it's fragrant.


Turn the heat back up to medium-high and add the wine to deglaze, boiling off the alcohol and scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the pork to the pot and add the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, thyme and the toasted fennel seeds. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until pork is almost tender, about 1 hour. Add the potatoes, olives and fresh fennel bulb and continue cooking until the pork is very tender and juices are slightly thickened, about 45 minutes.


Season to taste with salt, pepper and about a tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar and serve garnished with Italian parsley and fennel fronds, if you have them.

EDIT: I've received some questions about fresh fennel and where to buy it. I've lifted a picture off the Interwebz so those of you who don't know what to look for will have a reference. It will usually come with the fronds trimmed off as you see, and it should be available in most any supermarket, though it's sometimes incorrectly labeled as "anise". Use only the white part and cut out the core in a fashion similar to cutting out the core of a cabbage.