Carne de porco à alentejana (Portuguese pork and clams)
65 min · 49 g protein · 464 cals / serving
Surf and turf, Portuguese style: pork marinated in white wine, garlic and sweet red pepper, seared hard and tossed with clams that steam open in the pan and give up their briny juices, then piled with crisp golden potato cubes and plenty of fresh coriander.
Ingredients
Marinated pork
- 1 1/3 lb pork tenderloin pork loin fillet, raw, pork tenderloin (fillet), trimmed, cut into 2.5 cm (1-inch) cubes
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp white wine, dry
- 1/3 cup roasted red peppers, jarred, blended to a paste (stands in for massa de pimentão)
- 1 tbsp paprika, sweet
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 leaves bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp salt
Potatoes
- 1 1/3 lb gold potatoes, peeled, 2 cm (3/4-inch) cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 1/4 lb small clams in the shell (about 5 oz meat) steamed clams, scrubbed, soaked in salted water 30 minutes
- 1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 lemon, in wedges
Salada mista
- 1 small head romaine lettuce, torn
- 2 medium tomatoes, in wedges
- a few thin rings red onions
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp olive oil
Steps
- Mix the wine, pepper paste, paprika, garlic, bay leaves and salt in a bowl, add the pork, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the potato cubes with their oil and a pinch of salt, spread on a lined baking sheet and roast 30–35 minutes, turning once, until crisp and deep golden.
- Lift the pork out of the marinade and pat it dry; keep the marinade. Heat the oil in a wide, deep pan or cataplana over high heat and brown the pork in two batches, 4–5 minutes each, until well coloured. Return all the pork, pour in the marinade and let it bubble for 5 minutes, until reduced by about half and the pork is cooked through (145°F).
- Add the drained clams, cover tightly and cook over high heat for 4–6 minutes, shaking the pan, until they have opened. Throw away any that stay shut.
- Fold in the roasted potatoes and most of the coriander and scatter the rest on top. Toss the lettuce, tomato and onion with the vinegar, oil and a pinch of salt, and serve the pork straight from the pan with lemon wedges, the juices spooned over and the salad alongside.
Good to know
Which pork cut is best?
In the Alentejo it is often shoulder or neck, which stays juicy and is a little richer; tenderloin, as here, is leaner and quick-cooking, and stays tender over the short simmer. If you use shoulder, cut it smaller and brown it a minute or two longer. Pork shoulder makes it about 44 instead of 64.
Can I use canned clams?
Fresh clams in their shells are the point: they season the sauce as they open. In a pinch, stir in a drained can of whole clams with a splash of its juice for the last 2 minutes, just to heat through.
What can I use instead of massa de pimentão?
The Portuguese sweet red pepper paste is salty and fragrant. Blended jarred roasted peppers with sweet paprika and a pinch of salt is the usual stand-in outside Portugal, and it works well in the marinade.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 111
- Protein
- (45%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (25%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (31%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 247 mg
About 50% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1855 kcal goes into the pot and 2187 g of ingredients comes out as about 1675 g of food: 111 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.