Römertopf Lergryta Kotlettstek i tomatröra Romertopf Pork Cutlet in Tomato sauce

I decided to 'play' with my new kitchen toy, a Römertopf clay baker I got as a birthday present from my brother-in-law. I was eyeing it for a while but was waiting for an interesting recipe to inspire me to get it. This originally came from Germany but googling it didn't turn up too many recipes although the clay baker came with a recipe book already (in swedish though). I got Johan to pick something to make with pork (since we got some pork cutlet the other day) and he picked this. It turns out to be surprisingly good, although I was joking with Johan that it's obvious why he likes this recipe - it's sort of like a pizza topping without the pizza bread. However the pork turns out quite nice and moist, not dry at all.

The preparation is easy enough, it's just the time taken to bake it at a high temperature that may turn some of you off. As it was my first time making it, I decided to halve the recipe but in the end, I wish I had done the full recipe instead. We had this with pasta, but the suggestion to serve with rice and potatoes sounds good too.

Recipe / recept

750g-1kg pork cutlets in cubes/750g-1kg fläskkotlett i bit

salt

pepper/peppar

4-6 slices of smoked ham /4-6 skivor rökt skinka

2 dl coarsely grated cheese /2 dl grovriven ost

1 can crushed tomatoes /1 burk krossade tomater

black pepper /svartpeppar

2 teaspoon of dried basil or oregano / 1 tsk basilika eller oregano

1 minced garlic clove /1 krossad vitlökslyfta

Steps

1. Soak the clay baker in water for at least 20 minutes, covered in water thoroughly. Drain and set aside.
   Lägga Romertopf lergryta i blöt för 20 min, torka av och sätten åt sidan.
   
   
   
2. Season the pork with salt and pepper and lay it in the soaked clay baker.
   Krydda köttet med salt och peppar och lägg det i den genomfuktade lergrytan.
   
   
3. Cover it with sliced ham and cheese.
   Täck med skinkan i strimlor och den rivna osten.
   
   
   
   
4. Mixed the crushed tomatoes with black pepper and dried herbs (you can use 1 teaspoon basil and 1 teaspoon oregano also) and minced garlic (can grate or use a garlic press) in a bowl and spoon it around the pork cubes.
   Blanda tomaterna med svartpeppar, örtkrydda och vitlök och häll blandningen runt köttet.
   
   
   
5. Cover the clay baker and put in a cold oven. Then turn the heat on at 250°C and bake for 1h 30 mins - 1h 45 mins.
   Lägg på locket och ställ in grytan i ugnen. Sätt på ugnen och ställ termostaten på 250°C och stek 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 timme. Servera med ris eller potatis.