This slow-cooked pork is easy-peasy, lemon squeezy to prepare and it tastes amazing. Best of all, you are left with loads of leftovers to play with
First published back in 2014, I’ve been making this baby lately – and loving it!
“This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb, has a story to tell. It has a journey. It leaves a footprint. It leaves a legacy. To eat with reckless abandon, without conscience, without knowledge; folks, this ain’t normal.” – Joel Salatin, farmer and author of ‘Folks, This Ain’t Normal; You Can Farm‘
My lovely friends at Linga Longa had some beautiful looking pork neck at the markets on Saturday. So I bought a little piece to slow cook for David and myself. Alright. That was a white lie. I actually bought quite a lot. Two whole kilos worth, in fact. That’s just under 4 1/2 pounds for those of you who don’t think ‘metric’.
The recipe we have on highest rotation here is my Four Hour Lamb. Only now, instead of a leg, I usually pick up a couple of shoulders and slow cook them together, which gives us oodles of meat to play with for days…
But that’s another story for another time…
Today, I decided to play around with that 4-hour lamb number, only with my pork neck, instead. And, it ROCKED!
I’m a massive fan of slow cooking my animal protein. It’s easy. It’s a great way to batch cook. The flavour is incredible. And, did I mention it’s easy?
This slow cooked pork recipe is such a doddle to make – it literally takes about 5 minutes to prepare this for the oven.
Want some ideas for what to do with leftovers?
Leftover pork neck is great:
- served in tacos or tortillas
- used as a based for a porky version of Shepherd’s Pie
- added to a morning breakfast hash
- made into hot patootie hashies (even better with a fried egg on top)
- thrown into AIP-esque cauliflower fried rice
- served simply with a giant serve of coleslaw and some fermented vegetables
- 2 kilos of happy, hormone-free pork neck
- 6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled
(I used 8, but I love garlic!) - 1 bunch of fresh thyme, leaves stripped
- 1 handful of bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon happy fat (I used lard)
- sea salt
- 375 mls chicken bone broth
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch/arrowroot powder 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 bunch herbs, finely chopped (I used parsley and a little sage)
- Heat your oven to 220°C / 425°F.
- Using a pestle and mortar, roughly crush the garlic cloves with the thyme, fat and salt. Place your pork neck into an ovenproof roasting dish (I used my trusty Le Creuset), pierce all over with a sharp knife and rub all over with the garlic and herb mixture. Massage for a minute or two. Place the bay leaves on top of the meat.
- Cover your roasting dish – either with a lid or firmly with foil and pop it into the oven. As soon as you close the oven door, reduce the heat to 160° / 320°F.
- Walk away for four hours and let the meat, garlic and herbs work their magic.
- Remove the pork from the roasting dish and onto a carving board or large serving dish. Cover with foil and allow to rest, discarding the bay leaves.
- Put the roasting dish on the stove over medium heat. Allow to bubble for a minute. Add the bone broth, making sure you scrape all the meaty bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
- While the sauce is simmering, in a small bowl or jug mix the starch with a little water. Stir well. Now, shred the pork with two forks.
- Add vinegar to your roasting pan. Taste for seasoning and salt as appropriate.Add the starch slurry and stir well. The sauce will thicken. Now, add chopped herbs and turn off the heat.
- Serve!
E N J O Y !
This recipe features in the Phoenix Helix Recipe Roundtable
(first published in October 2014)
Mmmm. Once again, you photos are beautiful & inspiring!
Petra – one day, when you and Matthew come to visit Sydney, you will see how I race around frantically trying to take pics before I lose the natural light (thank heavens for daylight savings!) It is SO not a thing of beauty and grace! Definitely more good luck than good management, but I appreciate your lovely comment. 🙂
What about the crackling?
There is no crackling with pork neck. Some days you’re the statue, and some days you’re the seagull…
love pork – what do your serve with your delicious pork?
Hi Kirsty – really, it depends on the temperature. Lots of roasted veg on cooler nights and a great slaw in warmer weather. Last night we finished it off with baked sweet kumara stuffed with pork, apple sauce and wilted silverbeet. YUM!
Can you do this recipe in a slow cooker?