This dish was basically as close as I could get to a one-pot wonder – had I not needed the pot of water to boil things in, this would have literally been achievable in one pot. We have roasted pork belly with potatoes that are cooked in pork fat, a ragout with peas, shallots, and artichokes, and a pan sauce that has pork and artichoke-y goodness throughout it. It’s a fairly straightforward recipe in that everything is either boiled or put into the pan to sear or roast, so it’s a relatively easy dish with very little cleanup required!

For the ragout:
1 artichoke
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 shallot, peeled and sliced into strips
1 bay leaf
a pinch of salt
canola oil
1/2 cup baby potatoes
a pinch of sumac
a pinch of cumin
a pinch of thyme
1/4 cup English peas

Remove the outer three layers of artichoke leaves. Cut the artichoke in half, and peel the exterior so that it is pale yellow-green in color. Use a spoon to scrape out any fuzzy-looking innards(that’s the choke and it’s 100% inedible). Quarter the artichoke lengthwise. Place the artichoke and the artichoke leaves and peels into a pot of slightly salted water and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes. In an oven-proof pan, sweat out the garlic, shallot, and bay leaf in some oil first. Then place on the artichokes, then turn the pan off heat for now.

Halve your baby potatoes, and boil in the water that the artichoke was just boiled in until fork tender, about 5 minutes. Place the potatoes into the pan with the other vegetables, flat side down as well. At this point, sprinkle on the sumac, thyme, and cumin to your prepared vegetables in the pan. With the English peas, boil them in the water, and then transfer into a bowl of ice to keep them bright green.

For the pork belly:
1/4 pound strip of pork belly, skin scored
reserved artichoke/potato water
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn black pepper
1 tspn salt

Blanch the pork belly in your artichoke water until the exterior is completely white in color. Remove from the water, pat the skin of the pork belly dry, and season with the other ingredients. Place the pork belly onto the prepared vegetables in the pan and roast for 45 minutes at 425 degrees F. Afterwards, remove the pork belly and toss the peas into the other vegetables to finish both the pork belly and the ragout.

For the sauce:
Reserved artichoke liquid
2 dried porcini mushrooms
Reserved vegetable-roasting pan

Deglaze the pan with about 1/4 cup of the artichoke water and porcini mushrooms and allow that to reduce until it is an unctuous and thick sauce that can coat the back of the spoon.

To garnish:
Nasturtium leaves