“Bland.” “Soft.” “Watery.” Perhaps not the most appetizing food adjectives, these descriptions are all-too-frequently used to characterize slow cooker cuisine. Popular as the cookers have become again over the last several years, it’s hard to shake the memories of the slow cooker disasters of yesteryear.

But over time, recipes have adapted to use the strengths of these simple yet remarkable cooking appliances. And it’s true, the ease of slow a cooker recipe can often be as deceiving as a fox in a little red cape, but don’t be fooled. Slow cookers are just that — slow, making them great for braising tough cuts of meat at low temperatures.

One of my favorite dishes that use the "dump all the ingredients and walk away" slow cooker method is a rich and velvety pork ragu.

Pork butt is perfect in this application, resulting in a pull apart texture, and giving the sauce an incredible depth of flavor. Pork butt, a tough cut of meat from the shoulder of the pig, is often called Boston butt, and is one of those great cheaper cuts that cooks up like magic with the proper time and care. To build a full-body ragu, I layer the pork with flavors from tomato paste, red wine and a good olive oil. As the tomato paste cooks down, the harsh notes soften, amping up the savory notes of the dish. Red wine adds complexity and olive oil adds a fruity note and lends the sauce a luscious texture.

After a busy day, walking in the door to the delicious aroma from the sauce, it’s hard not to think you had an Italian grandmother cooking in your kitchen all day. In fact, this hands-off “Sunday Sauce” can easily be made any day of the week, tossed with pasta or spooned over a plate of polenta, and gift you dinner the whole week long. 

Editor’s note: Love your slow cooker? Check out this recipe for Slow cooker lamb tagine.

SLOW COOKER PORK RAGU

15 minutes, plus 6 hours cooking time. Makes 8 cups 

2 ½ pounds boneless pork butt roast, trimmed and cut into 1 ½-inch cubes 

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 

1 cup finely chopped onion (about one onion) 

1 cup finely chopped carrots (about two carrots) 

½ cup red wine

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil 

3 tablespoons tomato paste

4 cloves garlic, minced 

1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed

½ teaspoon red chile flakes

1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning 

Cooked pasta or polenta, for serving

Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish 

Grated parmesan, to taste 

1. In a slow cooker, combine the pork, salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, onion, carrots, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, fennel seed, red pepper flake, and Italian season and stir until combined. Cover and cook on high for 6 to 7 hours, or on low for 7 to 8 hours. 

2. Using a potato masher or tongs, shred pork until broken into bite-sized pieces. Toss ragu with desired amount of pasta (About 3 cups of sauce for one pound of pasta), or spoon over individual servings of freshly-cooked polenta. Garnish with parsley, and parmesan to taste.

Note: From Dylan Simmons.