Collar of pork, mash and soubise sauce
5 HOURS | SERVES 4-6 | EASY | GF
This is a spin on the classic Irish dish that traditionally uses bacon – in this case it’s cured pork collar. You’ll need to order this from a butcher.
onion 1, roughly chopped carrot 1, roughly chopped thyme 2 sprigs bay leaves 4 black peppercorns 1 tsp cured collar of pork 1kg PICKLED ONIONS white wine vinegar 150ml caster sugar 50g shallot 1, cut into rings flat-leaf parsley a handful, finely chopped SOUBISE SAUCE white onions 6, thinly sliced unsalted butter 100g double cream 75ml
MASH floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper) 1kg, peeled and chopped butter 150g whole milk 50ml
• For the pork, put 1.5 litres of cold water into a large pan with the onion, carrot, thyme, 2 of the bay leaves and all the peppercorns, and bring to a simmer. Add the pork and simmer very gently for 4-6 hours or until very tender to the point of a knife.
• Put the white wine vinegar, sugar and 100ml of water into a pan and gently heat until the sugar is dissolved. Tip in the shallot rings and leave to pickle for 20 minutes. Stir in the parsley when ready to serve.
• For the soubise sauce, gently cook the onions in a pan with the butter, 2 tsp of salt and the remaining 2 bay leaves for 1-2 hours, covered with baking paper, until very soft but not coloured. Tip into a food processor or blender and whizz with the double cream until completely smooth. Pass through a sieve and gently reheat to serve.
• For the mash, boil the potatoes in boiling salted water until very tender to the point of a knife, then mash until soft. Add the butter and milk, and mix until smooth. Season to taste, then gently reheat to serve.
• Take the pork from the cooking liquid (you can keep it for making soup, if you like) and slice into four or six thick slices.
• Serve the mash with a slice of pork, the soubise, pickled onion rings and a little of their pickling liquor.
PER SERVING (6) 752 KCALS | FAT 51.1G SATURATES 29.3G | CARBS 39.5G | SUGARS 12.7G FIBRE 5.8G | PROTEIN 30G | SALT 4.5G