The recipe book has been pulled off the shelf today as we’d thought that it was about time we shared another one of our favourite dishes that’s a doddle to make.

This Italian style pork dish is sure to go down a treat whatever the setting be it served at home on a weekend or in a restaurant on a daily basis.

Pork shoulder is a very flavourful cut of meat that contains enough fat to keep it moist during cooking where other joints may have a tendency to dry out. Also, due it being roasted, you can just put it in the oven and enjoy the rest of your day be it watching the World Cup, Wimbledon, reading a book or catching up with your hectic television schedule. (Or if you’re a chef: preparing other dishes.)

Ingredients

• Pork shoulder, boneless & skinless
• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of paprika
• 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon of oregano
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon of coriander
• Grated lemon zest
• Olive oil
• Salt

Cooking time is 2-3 hours; preparation should be done the night before roasting

Method

• Lightly score the fattier side of the pork and season with salt
• Grind the spices together (paprika, peppercorns, mustard seeds and coriander)
• Heat some oil in a saucepan on a low heat and add the garlic; cook until golden.
• Add the lemon zest and the spice mixture, stir and leave to cool.
• When cooled, rub the marinade over the pork.
• Tie the shoulder, wrap tightly in foil and leave in a chilled environment overnight.
• One hour prior to cooking, let the pork sit at room temperature.
• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190°C/375°F
• Unwrap the pork, place in a roasting pan and initially cook for 30-45 minutes, until the outside is golden brown.
• Reduce the temperature to Gas Mark 2/150°C/300°F. Cook for a further 1½-2 hours.
• Leave to rest for thirty minutes

If you want to serve this with roasted potatoes and vegetables, simply add them into the roasting pot.

So tuck into this Italian style shoulder and enjoy!

photo: anotherpintplease (Flickr, used under Creative Commons)