Italian-style roast pork with white wine, garlic and fennel

This is an excellent recipe for the weekend. You can leave it for hours, gently bubbling in the oven, and you will have a fantastic dish at the end of the day. Great for a slow cooker, too

SERVES 8

PREP 5 MINS COOK 7 HRS 40 MINS

✱ 3.2kg boneless, rolled pork shoulder

✱ 2tbsp fennel seeds

✱ 1tbsp coarse sea salt

✱ 1tsp black peppercorns

✱ 1tsp crushed dried chillies

✱ 6 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

✱ Freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons

✱ 2tbsp olive oil

✱ 175ml dry white wine

You will need:

✱ Large roasting pan with a rack

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. 2 Cut deep slits in the pork skin with a sharp knife. Grind the fennel seeds, salt, peppercorns and chillies using a mortar and pestle. Add the chopped garlic and pound to a rough paste. Using your hands, smother the paste all over the pork, working it into the slits.

3 Put the pork on a wire rack and place over a roasting pan.

Cook, skin side up, in the preheated oven for 25–30 mins. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 120C/gas 1/2. Turn the pork over and pour half the lemon juice and all the olive oil over it. Return it to the oven and cook for at least 7 hrs, checking it every couple of hours

– it should be sizzling quietly. Ovens vary, so you may want to increase the temperature.

4 Halfway through cooking, spoon off excess fat and squeeze the remaining lemon juice over the meat. About 30 mins before the pork is due to be served, remove it from the oven and increase the heat to 220C/gas 7. Transfer, skin side up, to a clean ovenproof dish and, when it is hot enough, return it to the middle shelf for 15 mins to crisp up the crackling. Remove from the oven and let rest.

5 Pour off excess fat from the original pan and add the wine and 175ml water. Simmer gently on the top of the stove for 10mins, scraping up any sticky burnt-on bits from the edges of the pan. Strain the juices through a strainer/sieve and keep warm. Carve the pork into thick slices and serve with some pan juices poured over.

Per serving: 534 cals, 19g fat (6g saturated), 0g carbohydrates