Shoulder of pork with cider and apples

Shoulder of pork with cider and apples

This roast pork recipe is almost (almost) self-saucing, so you don’t need to fiddle with making gravy from scratch.

Shoulder of pork with cider and apples

In this roast shoulder of pork recipe, the apples are roasted alongside the pork creating a sweet cider gravy.

  • Serves icon Serves 8
  • Time icon Hands-on time 25 min, oven time 2 hours 15-20 min

This roast pork recipe is almost (almost) self-saucing, so you don’t need to fiddle with making gravy from scratch.

In this roast shoulder of pork recipe, the apples are roasted alongside the pork creating a sweet cider gravy.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories
405kcals
Fat
10.4g (3.5g saturated)
Protein
56.7g
Carbohydrates
19.9g (18.9g sugars)
Fibre
4.3g
Salt
0.4g

Ingredients

  • 2kg British free-range pork shoulder, boned and tied, skin scored for crackling (ask your butcher to do this; see tips)
  • 300ml fresh chicken stock
  • 200ml dry cider, plus an extra splash
  • 1 tbsp demerara sugar
  • Whole garlic bulb, halved across the middle
  • Small bunch fresh sage leaves
  • 8 eating apples (see tips)
  • Roast potatoes and steamed greens to serve (optional)
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Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/ gas 4. Rub salt all over the pork and put in a large roasting tin. Pour in the stock and cider, spoon the sugar around (keeping it off the pork skin), then add the halved garlic bulb and half the sage. Roast for 1 hour. Meanwhile, score a line around the middle of each apple with a small knife (see Know-how). Add to the tin after the first hour of roasting.
  2. Roast for another hour or until a digital probe thermometer pushed into the middle of the meat reads 65°C (see tips). Remove the apples and garlic from the tin to a plate, cover and keep warm. Remove the pork, then pour the juices into a pan, scraping in any stuck bits using a wooden spoon. Return the pork to the roasting tin, turn the oven up to 240°C/fan220°C/gas 9 and roast for 15-20 minutes until the skin is crackled and crisp. Remove from the oven and rest for 20 minutes.
  3. Put the pan with the roasting juices over a medium heat, add the rest of the sage and bubble to reduce to a rich, slightly thickened sauce. Keep tasting – the trick is to stop reducing when you’re happy with the balance of flavours. Add in an extra splash of cider – it will give the sauce a lift. Serve the pork with the apples and sauce, with roast potatoes and steamed greens.

Nutrition

Calories
405kcals
Fat
10.4g (3.5g saturated)
Protein
56.7g
Carbohydrates
19.9g (18.9g sugars)
Fibre
4.3g
Salt
0.4g

delicious. tips

  1. Choose good quality, firm apples. Bring the pork out of the fridge 3 hours before cooking. To guarantee perfect roast meat, we recommend using a digital probe thermometer to check the internal temperature.

  2. When baking or roasting apples, score them all the way round the centre so they don’t burst open in the oven.

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