Slow cooked pork shoulder with braised fennel

Slow cooked pork shoulder with braised fennel

This delicious slow cooked pork recipe is slightly smokey with just a hit of sweetness. The onions and the fennel just about dissolve during the cooking process, if you do not like the taste of fennel your can omit it. This pork dish is really versatile can be served on slider buns, tortillas on a bed of mashed/roasted potato or polenta. I chose to serve the pork with roast potatoes with a sprinkle of rosemary and a capsicum.

INGREDIENTS
2 kg pork shoulder

2 red onions

1 fennel bulb

6 cloves garlic

600ml good quality vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

1T olive oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground fennel

Serves: 6

PREPARATION

1. Pre heat oven to 110C.
2. Rub cumin, fennel, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper all over the pork shoulder.
3. Place 1tb oil into a oven proof dish with a lid (e.g cast iron pot), turn cook top onto a medium heat place dish on top and allow to heat up, add pork to pot and seal each side until lightly golden, sprinkle with brown sugar.
4. Heat vegetable stock with garlic in the fry pan, pour over pork.
5. Chop fennel into 1cm thick pieces, cut onions into small wedges and scatter around pork shoulder.
6. Put lid onto dish and place into oven, cook for 6hrs.
7. Remove pork from oven, remove any excess liquid, using a fork and tongs pull the pork.

TO SERVE

This pork can be served on slider buns, tortillas on a bed of mashed/roasted potato or polenta.