It swells with wine and a blush of tomato, and travels as far way from the sweet, smoky, ketchup-laden American version as a dish can go without being expatriated. The herbal assault happens on three fronts: first as a dry rub, and then in a fresh pesto, half of which is cooked with the pork, and the rest swirled into the sauce at the end for a final olfactory onslaught.

Servings
4-6

Precook
15 minutes

Slow cook
6 hours on low in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker

At the end
5 minutes

Ingredients
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
3 large cloves garlic, 2 halved and 1 minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork sirloin, rolled and tied
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 cup dry white wine
1 can (about 15 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
2 cans (about 15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Directions
Mix the dried sage, rosemary, minced garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, and rub all over the pork. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat and brown the pork on all sides. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.

Add the onion to the oil remaining in the skillet, reduce the heat to medium, and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and boil until mostly evaporated. Add tomatoes and the beans and heat to boiling; set aside.

Process the sage, rosemary, parsley, and garlic clove halves in a mini chopper or small food processor until finely chopped. Add the oil and pine nuts and process or chop for a second, just until combined. Stir half of the herb mixture into the tomato-bean mixture, and pour over the pork. Set the remaining herb mixture aside. Cover the cooker and cook on low for 6 hours .

Remove the pork to a cutting board to rest. Turn the cooker to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Stir in the remaining herb mixture, and remove the beans with a slotted spoon to a serving platter. Snip the string or net from the pork, slice, and arrange around the beans on the platter so the slices overlap. Spoon the cooking liquid over the pork and serve.

What else?
• Although cannellini beans are the most traditional bean to cook with pork, you can use any
white bean, such as navy beans, pea beans, butter beans, or Great Northern beans.
• Pork sirloin is a little leaner than a shoulder. It’s fine to use a pork shoulder in this preparation,
but you will want to cook it a bit longer, about 8 hours.

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From Art of the Slow Cooker. Published by Chronicle Books. Copyright © 2009 by Andrew Schloss. All rights reserved.  Reprinted by permission of Chronicle Books.