Porchetta Spiced Pork Shoulder

An EASY pork roast that tastes like Italy

I had a spiritual experience this week: Somehow I contracted poison ivy. I’ve never had it before, which is surprising given my affinity for gardening and being in the woods. But even to some seasoned poison ivy sufferers, this case was especially nasty. My ankles are covered in it and I won’t even describe it because you wouldn't want to eat pork roast after reading it. I have NEVER been so consumed with the obsession to itch like this!! Specially at 4 in th morning. All to say that I am convinced God gave me poison ivy to help me gain compassion for people afflicted with addiction. It is something in my personal life that I have been actively working on: compassion specifically for this. Ask and you shall receive… literally. If anyone wants/needs to know what remedies I have trial and errored, feel fee to write to me because I am now an expert. 

Porchetta Spiced Pork Roast

As with a lot of my recipes this time of year, I gained inspiration from something I bought at the farmers market. Last weekend I got a very large pasture raised pork shoulder roast from the farmers market. I knew I had a busy week coming up so this was ideal to roast on Monday and make meals out of all week long. I rubbed the roast with the flavors of Porchetta, which is a classic Italian pork roast that is unbelievably delicious. Along side, I cooked a big pot of chickpeas from dry. I flavored them with that leftover beef fat that I trimmed from the oxtails and stuck in the freezer. This all turned into sandwiches, rice bowls, salad toppers, etc. Here’s how I did it:

• 1 boneless pork shoulder roast (could be almost any size)

• Olive oil

• A few cloves of garlic

• Ground fennel seeds OR whole fennel seeds, ground

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl: grate the garlic cloves on a microplane. Combine with olive oil, ground fennel seeds, salt and pepper to make a paste. Rub that all over the pork shoulder roast. You want to use plenty of salt, remember you have to season a lot of meat. 

2. Place the roast in a baking dish. Cover the whole thing tightly with foil. Roast at 350° for 2.5-3 hours. You’ll know it’s ready when the meat is super tender when you poke it with a fork. 

3. You can eat it right away, but I like to cool it slightly so I can slice it. I left mine right in the baking dish, in the fridge,  all week long and just cut off and reheated what I needed. 

What I’m Loving This Week:

Canned Black Olives: I think this is one of those polarizing ingredients. Either you’r obsessed with them or you hate them. And if you’re obsessed you probably forget about them then rediscover them and wonder why you stopped eating them. Well i freaking LOVE them. I cracked open a can of already sliced ones and added them to homemade everything this week.

Homemade Pickles: It’s finally cucumber and season and now you can get Kirby cucumbers at the farmers markets. If you’re not familiar those are the kind of cucumbers that are best for pickles. My quick pickle recipe is as follows: 3 cups hot water, 1 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 heaping tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon sugar. Pack a jar with the sliced cucumbers, garlic cloves and dill. Pour over the brine. Let sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours. I chopped mine up finely and folded them into tuna salad. YUM!