Often a pork roast can be dried out when it’s done cooking. But this lovely recipe from Milk Street is extremely simple to make and uses just over a handful of ingredients. The lefotovers were still juicy and full of flavor.
This recipe takes inspiration from porchetta, a Tuscan-style pork roast seasoned with garlic, herbs and spices. A simple fragrant seasoning paste rub is made and the mixture is massaged into shallow cuts in the meat’s fat cap so it clings to the roast.
Roasting meat on a baking sheet, rather than in a roasting pan, promotes better air circulation, accelerating cooking and boosting browning. Use the time while the meat rests to throw together a zingy-fresh parsley-caper sauce that’s a perfect foil to the richness of the meat.
One noted difference that we made was to tie the pork with kitchen twine 3 or 4 times around the girth of the roast. And as ours didn’t have much of a fat cap, we made the cuts directly into the top of the meat. Butter-Roasted Carrots with Za’atar and Pomegranate Molasses, and garlicky mashed potatoes with gravy rounded out the meal.
Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Fennel, Garlic and Rosemary
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. fennel seeds
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- ⅔ cup lightly packed fresh rosemary
- 9 medium garlic cloves, 8 smashed and peeled, 1 finely grated, reserved separately
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 5 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast, untrimmed
- 2 cups lightly packed fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup drained capers, plus 3 Tbsp. caper brine
Directions
- Heat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the middle position. In a food processor, process the fennel seeds to a mixture of finely ground and coarsely cracked seeds, about 2 minutes. Add ¼ cup of the oil, the rosemary, smashed garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper. Process to form a paste, about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl as needed.
- With a knife, score a crosshatch pattern into the surface fat on top of the roast. Using your hands, rub the paste onto all sides of the roast and into the cuts. Place the pork fat side up on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until the center reaches 195°F, about 4 hours. (Ours took 4 1/2 hours to come to temp.)
- When the roast is done, tent with foil and let rest for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the remaining ¼ cup oil, grated garlic, parsley, capers and brine and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Transfer the roast to a cutting board. Cut into slices, then transfer to a platter. Serve with the sauce.
Recipe by Dimitri Demopolous for Milk Street
Accounting for Taste 