This is an adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s 6-hour slow-roasted pork shoulder, recipe here.
The original recipe talks about cooking pork and roast vegetables. But I wanted to make some kick-ass, slow-cooked gravy too! So I threw in some finely diced vegetables which caramelised and melted into an exquisite puddle of deliciousness – perfect for making gravy.
Ingredients
2 kg shoulder of pork, skin on.
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds, ground
Gravy Vegetables
1 red onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
2 garlic clove
4 bay leaves
600 ml water
Roast Vegetables
1 red onion, cut into chunky wedges
2 carrots, chopped into chunks
3 celery sticks, chopped into chunks
5 potatoes, quartered
1. Preheat your oven to 220°C
2. Get a sharp knife and make scores in the pork skin and fat, about a centimeter apart (but don’t cut into the meat). Rub a few pinches of salt, pepper and fennel seeds on the skin and underside of the pork.
3. Put the pork in a roasting tray (skin-side up) and surround it with the gravy vegetables, garlic and bay leaves. Pour in 300ml of water and put the tray into the hot oven.
4. Roast for 30 minutes, until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling.
5. Turn the heat down to 170°C. Wrap the pork and tray in foil and put back into the oven for 4.5 hours.
6. Take off the foil. Baste the pork with the oil that has dripped into the tray.
7. Then add the roasting vegetables. Toss them around into the tray to coat with the pork oil.
8. Keep the tray uncovered. Put back into the oven for 1 hour.
9. Move the pork to a serving dish. Be careful, as the pork might fall apart! Cover with the foil, and leave it to rest. Also take out the chunky roast vegetables out of the pan.
Gravy.
What’s left in the pan will be the reduced, diced vegetables, pork drippings and oil. Carefully skim off ALL of the oil floating on top. There will be a lot! Pour everything that remains into a blender and whizz it all up (you might need to add some water) to make a rich, sweet gravy that tastes like caramelised onion and carrots. Season to taste!
Cooking Notes:
My crackling didn’t work out very well. I think I didn’t blast it in the hot over for long enough, so it didn’t puff up and go crispy. But in the end, I was so disgusted by all the fat and oil (saturated fat is really bad for you!), that I cut off ALL the crackling and fat and refused to serve it to my family. I threw it all in the bin, haha!
