Weeknight Feijoada with Smoky Sausage and Orange

⏱ 150 min · Serves 6

A streamlined take on Brazil's beloved black bean stew: pork shoulder and smoky sausage simmered with black beans until glossy and deeply savoury, brightened with orange zest and served with garlicky rice and toasted farofa. Rich enough for Sunday, quick enough for a Wednesday.

Per serving: 935 kcal · 47.0g protein · 85.0g carbs · 45.0g fat

Ingredients

• 500g pork shoulder, cut into 4cm chunks
• 200g smoked bacon or pancetta, in thick lardons
• 250g smoked pork sausage (linguiça, chouriço or kielbasa), sliced 1cm thick
• 2 x 400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed (or 350g dried, soaked overnight and pre-cooked)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 900ml chicken or pork stock
• Zest of 1 orange, plus 2 wide strips of peel
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Salt and black pepper
• For the sides:
• 300g long-grain rice
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 100g coarse cassava flour (farofa) or coarse breadcrumbs
• 30g butter
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced into rounds
• Handful chopped flat-leaf parsley or spring onion

Method

1. Pat the pork shoulder dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy casserole over medium-high heat and brown the pork in batches, about 6-8 minutes total. Set aside.
2. Add the bacon lardons to the same pot and fry until the fat renders and the edges crisp, 5 minutes. Add the sausage slices and colour for 2 minutes. Lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside with the pork.
3. Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining oil if needed, then the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook 8 minutes until soft and golden. Stir in the garlic, cumin and smoked paprika and cook 1 minute more.
4. Return the pork and bacon to the pot (hold back the sausage for now). Add the bay leaves, orange peel strips and stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 1 hour, until the pork is beginning to yield.
5. Stir in the black beans and the sausage. Simmer uncovered for a further 35-45 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pork shreds easily and the liquid has thickened to a glossy, soupy stew. Mash a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot to thicken it further.
6. Fish out the bay leaves and orange peel. Stir in the vinegar and orange zest, then taste and season well — it should be savoury, smoky and faintly sweet.
7. Meanwhile, rinse the rice, then cook it with the crushed garlic and a good pinch of salt in lightly salted water until fluffy, about 12 minutes. Rest covered for 5 minutes.
8. For the farofa, melt the butter in a frying pan, add the cassava flour and toast over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes until sandy and golden. Season with salt.
9. Serve the feijoada over the garlic rice, scattered with farofa, parsley and a few orange slices on the side to cut the richness.