Ingredients:-

  • 1 to 1.5kg bone-out shoulder of pork, skin on
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 red onions, halved
  • 2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
  • 2 sticks of celery, halved
  • 1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
  • 6-8 fresh bay leaves
  • 600ml water or vegetable stock

Method:-

  • Preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
  • Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side upwards. Get yourself a small sharp knife and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat. If the joint is tied, try not to cut through the string.
  • Rub salt right into all the scores you've just made, pulling the skin apart a little if you need to. Brush any excess salt off the surface then turn it over.
  • Season the underside of the meat with a few pinches of salt and pepper.
  • Place your pork, skin side-up, in a roasting tray and pop in the preheated oven.
  • Roast for 30 minutes, until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling.
  • At this point, turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and roast for another 30 minutes.
  • Take out of the oven and baste with the fat in the bottom of the tray.
  • Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board.
  • Add all the veg, garlic and bay leaves to the tray and stir them into the fat.
  • Place the pork back on top of everything and return to the oven to roast for another hour.
  • By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender. Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover with tin foil and leave to rest while you make your gravy.
  • Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray.
  • When you've got a nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve.
  • Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.
  • Serve the pork and crackling with your jug of gravy.