Name: Slow-roasted pork shoulder with fennel
Cook time: 200 min
Total time: 200 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1-2 leeks, sliced; 2 fennel bulbs, quartered from tip to root; 1/2 cup apple juice or water; 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper, plus extra 1 tsp sea salt; 1.2-1.5kg pork shoulder, skin scored; 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and halved through waist; Assorted vegetables such as baby carrots, Brussels sprouts and very small onions, or halved quartered bigger onions

Slow-roasted pork shoulder with fennel

This is an economical meal for the family as pork shoulder is not expensive. Although it is a strange shape, roasted slowly as in this recipe, the meat just falls off the bone (it doesn’t require carving) and there’s very little waste

Serves 4

Cook

3H 20M

Ingredients

1-2 leeks, sliced

2 fennel bulbs, quartered from tip to root

1/2 cup apple juice or water

1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper, plus extra 1 tsp sea salt

1.2-1.5kg pork shoulder, skin scored

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and halved through waist

Assorted vegetables such as baby carrots, Brussels sprouts and very small onions, or halved quartered bigger onions

Method

1.Preheat oven to 200°C.

2.Oil the base of a roasting dish and cover with the leeks, fennel and apple juice.

3.Rub the salt and pepper into the pork meat, then place it on top of the vegetable trivet. This stops the bottom from stewing. Sprinkle extra salt on the skin.

4.Cook for 20 minutes to get it going, then cover tightly with foil, reduce oven to 150°C and cook for a further 2 hours.

5.Uncover, add apples and prepared assorted vegetables around the pork. Cook for 45 minutes, then for 5-15 minutes under a hot grill to get the crackling to pop. Watch carefully that it doesn’t burn.

6.Serve from the dish with greens such as peas, beans and spinach or silverbeet.

Nici Wickes