THIS WEEKEND / make pot-roasted Italian-style pork shoulder

SERVES 6-8 / PREPARATION 30 MINUTES PLUS RESTING / COOKING 2½ HOURS

1.5kg pork leg roast (or use shoulder) 2 tablespoons fennel seeds 2 teaspoons sea salt 4 cloves garlic 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary pinch of chilli flakes 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 onion, diced 2 sticks celery, diced 2 carrots, peeled, diced 2 bay leaves 250ml white wine 2 x 400ml cans white beans, drained, rinsed ¼ cup chopped parsley greens such as rocket, baby spinach or

silverbeet to serve (optional) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the skin from the pork and score with a sharp knife. Place the skin on an oven rack and pour boiling water over. Pat dry with paper towels. Place the rack on an oven tray and put into the fridge, uncovered, to dry out (leave overnight if desired).

Toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan. Cool slightly and grind with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Take 2 teaspoons of this powder, mix in the remaining salt and rub into the skin. Add the garlic, rosemary and chilli flakes to the remaining ground fennel and grind to a paste. Make a few incisions in the meat using the tip of a knife. Stuff in some of the paste, then spread the rest over the meat.

In a large ovenproof pan with a lid, heat the oil and butter to melt then add the pork. Brown gently on all sides – allow 15 minutes or so. Remove from the pan, add the vegetables and bay leaves and cook for 5-7 minutes or until slightly softened. Return the pork to the pan, add the wine, bring to the boil, cover and put in the oven.

Cook for 1½ hours or until the pork is very tender. In the final 30 minutes, add the beans. When the meat is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes. Turn up the oven to 220°C, put in the pork skin and roast for 30 minutes. If it hasn’t puffed and crackled at this point, put it under the grill and watch it closely until it does. Remove from the oven, cool and crack into pieces.

Remove the pork from the pan and thinly slice. Remove some of the liquid and reserve for a later use, such as to dilute the barbecue sauce for the pulled pork sandwiches (overleaf ). Add the parsley and greens, if using, to the pan and season to taste. Serve the pork, vegetables and beans with the crackling. (DF) (GF)

PORK TONNATO Make a mayonnaise with 2 egg yolks, 200ml olive oil, lemon juice to taste and water to thin if necessary. Drain a 185g can of tuna in oil (use this oil to make up some of the 200ml measure) and roughly chop. Add to the mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons roughly chopped capers, 4 roughly chopped anchovies and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Season to taste. Slice the pork thinly and put on a platter. If you have any juices leftover from the pot roast, drizzle a little over the pork then dress with the mayonnaise. Refrigerate until required. Add extra capers, thin slivers of anchovy and thinly shaved fennel or celery to serve.