Pork Roast with Fennel & Honeyed Wine Recipe

Ingredients

1.2g pork shoulder joint
500g shallots or onions
1 bulb of fennel
2 garlic cloves
30g fresh thyme
2 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp honey
250ml white wine
250ml veg stock
A pinch of sea salt

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Method

1. Heat oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/Gas 7.

2. Peel your shallots or onions. Halve or quarter, if they’re on the large size. If using onions instead, peel and cut into 2-3cm-thick wedges. Trim the woody tops from the fennel and save them and the fronds for later. Cut the fennel bulb into 2-3cm-thick wedges.

3. Lay the pork on a double sheet of foil large enough to enclose it, fat-side up. Arrange the shallots/onions and fennel around it. Set on a roasting tray.

4. Peel the garlic. Strip the thyme leaves from the stems – reserve half the thyme to garnish after cooking. Finely chop the remaining thyme leaves with the garlic, then mix with the fennel seeds, black pepper and a good pinch of salt. Rub this all over the meat, getting in all the nooks and crannies, too.

5. Whisk the honey and wine together. Pour it around the sides of the joint. Seal the foil securely around the joint.

6. Place in the oven. Immediately lower heat to 160°C/fan 140°C/Gas 3. Cook for 1 hour 15 mins. If your joint’s a little larger or smaller, adjust the cooking time accordingly.

7. Crank heat back up to 220°C/fan 200°C/Gas 7. Uncover the pork a little to just reveal the fat. Sprinkle a generous pinch or two of salt over the fat. Cook for 25 mins at this high heat, or until the fat is nicely crisped and golden.

8. Remove from the oven. Pierce the pork with a point of a knife and press the meat. If the juices run clear, the meat is done. If the juices are red, lower the heat back down to 160C/Gas 3 and cook a further 30 mins or until the juices run clear when pierced again.

9. Rest the meat at least 30 mins before carving. If the crackling isn’t quite crisp enough, carefully cut the fat off, trying not to cut into the meat. Slice into strips. Lay on a roasting tray. Pop it into a 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6 oven, checking often, until golden and crisp.

10. Make a gravy by tipping cooking juices from the parcel into a frying pan and reducing them down with the stock until the flavour is concentrated and rich. Add more wine or honey, if needed.

11. Keep the shallots/onions and fennel in the foil parcel to stay warm. Arrange them around the pork or in a dish to serve up alongside the meat.

12. Strain the gravy through a sieve and serve warm with your pork and shallots/onions and fennel. Thinly slice the woody tops you saved from the fennel and roughly chop the fennel fronds. Garnish with the reserved thyme leaves and the fennel.

Tomato

Rating

Very sweet, very grey and unappetising, very disappointing. Won't be making this again, and am so pleased I didn’t make it for friends as was the original plan. Not sure where the 3 minutes comes from at the top of the recipe as it took a lot longer to peel the shallots. The pork took much longer to cook than the time indicated (of course, could be my oven), but allow at least 20 minutes for vegetable prep, and the extra half hour for cooking should you decide to make this. One of the worst meals I've cooked in a long time.

Jez

Delicious- we substituted apple juice for the wine and honey, worked very well! You could also use cider, or just stock.

Aunty Carol

I made this today at it was loved by all, I did leave out the fennel seeds only because I did not have some but it was delicious will be making again next week.