Slow Roast Pork Shoulder with Wild Garlic Porridge

As we are in Gloucestershire we just had to treat ourselves to some Gloucester Old Spot pork and a slow roast shoulder joint was just perfect for a lazy day hanging around the caravan site. I love roasting pork in the caravan, the hot temperatures at the top of the oven make perfect crackling whilst the meat stays juicy and moist.

As part of the #PerfectPorridge campaign Flahavans sent me a lovely porridge parcel to use during this trip and savoury wild garlic porridge with those big meaty oats worked a treat with the pork. We foraged the wild garlic from the local lanes too, which made it all the more appealing.

Ingredients:

Pork shoulder, 2kg
Porridge oats
Carrots
Chia seeds
Potatoes
Wild garlic, half a carrier bag full
1x Garlic clove, peeled and diced
1x Banana shallot
3x Chestnut mushrooms, diced
Sugar
Butter
Chicken stock cube
Parmesan cheese
White Wine
White wine vinegar
1x Sage leaf
Cornflour


Method:

1. The pork takes about 6 hours so start early with this one and make sure the butcher has scored the skin, if he hasn't use a stanley knife to cut regular incisions about 1cm apart. Massage a little oil into the skin and then rub salt into all the incisions. Place in the oven on gas mark 7 for about 20 minutes then turn down to gas 3 for the remaining time. Baste with the juices regularly.
2. Peel and chop the potatoes and get them soaking in water. Change the water every hour or so when you baste the pork. This will help remove some of the starch.
3. Bring a pan of water to the boil and bung in the washed wild garlic leaves. Blanch for 3 minutes then drain and rinse under a cold tap. Reserve the cooking water.
4. In a mini food processor or using a hand blender whiz up the leaves with a bit of the cooking water. When you have a lovely green sauce push it through a fine meshed sieve and dispose of the leaf pulp. Keep the green sauce for the oats.
5. Drain the potatoes and fill up with salted water this time. Boil for about 10-15 minutes then drain and allow to cool.
6. When the pork is done remove from the oven, loosely cover with foil and set aside to rest. Separate the fat from the meat juices.
7. Turn the oven up to gas 7 and put the meat fat in a roasting tin and on the top oven shelf. When the fat is nice and hot gently pour the potatoes in and give them a mix, making sure they are totally covered in fat. Season with salt and get back in the oven.
8. In a saucepan sweat off the shallot for a few minutes then add the mushrooms and garlic clove and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.
9. Add the oats to the shallots and stir for a minute before adding the cooking water from the wild garlic. Crumble in half the stock cube and a splash of white wine vinegar.
10. When the oats are almost done grate in a chunk of Parmesan and add the wild garlic green sauce. Mix well, season if needed. Tip: If you make too much wild garlic sauce freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays so you can simply pop in a cube of green garlic goodness into any future recipe.
11. Peel and slice the carrots and place in a frying pan with a teaspoon of sugar, knob of butter and half a cup of water. Cook over a medium heat until the liquid has gone and the carrots are all shiny. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle on some chia seeds if you have them.
12. For the gravy heat the meat juices with a glass of white wine and enough extra water if needed. Add a sage leaf and the other half of the stock cube. Reduce down a little, taste and add more stock if needed. Thicken with a bit of cornflour mixed with water.
13. All that's left to do is plate up and enjoy with a glass of the remaining white wine!