Recipes: Pulled Pork

Valentine's Day Pulled Pork Pot Pies (see above)

Serves 2
Preparation time: around 30 minutes
Cooking time: around 2 hours

Ingredients
2 x 150g (5oz) pork shoulder steaks, trimmed
1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tomato purée
200ml (7fl oz) hot chicken stock
200ml (7fl oz) cider
1 tbsp chopped thyme
A little plain flour
100g (31/2oz) puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan 150°C), Gas mark 3. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the shallots, carrot and celery over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until starting to turn golden.

Add the pork to the pan, season well, and cook until golden on each side. Mix together the plain flour, tomato puree and 2 tbsp water and stir into the base of the pan. Pour in the hot stock, cider and thyme and stir together.

Cover the pan with a lid and bring to a simmer. Transfer to the oven and cook for around 11/2 hours until the pork is tender. Use two forks to shred the meat and mix together with the sauce.

Increase the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C), Gas Mark 7. Divide the mixture between two 300-350ml pie pots.

Dust a clean worksurface with a little plain flour and roll out the pastry until it measures about 3mm thick. Turn the pie pots over onto the pastry and cut around to create lids. Stamp out two heart shapes using a 3.5cm heart cutter.

Put the pastry on top of the pie pots and brush with beaten egg, then put the hearts on top and brush again with the egg. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until the pastry has puffed up and golden and the filling is hot right through.

Serve with ...
Steamed green beans, peas and watercress, tossed in a little extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

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Simple pulled pork

Serves 6, plus leftovers
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: around 6 hours

Ingredients
1.6kg (3lb 4oz) shoulder of pork (remove the rind/skin if you wish)

The Rub
1tbsp dried herbs, either thyme or oregano
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp each of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
Green salad

Method
Preheat your oven to 220°C (fan 200°C), Gas Mark 7. Line a roasting tin with foil, large enough to cover the pork later. Remove the string, unroll the pork, pat dry with kitchen paper and place it in the tin. Mix the rub ingredients in a bowl and rub over the pork.

Put the pork in the oven for 30 minutes so that the pork browns beautifully. Then reduce the oven to 150°C (fan 130°C), Gas Mark 2. Pour 300ml (1/2 pint) hot water into the foil, then wrap the foil over the top of the tin, enclosing the water and the pork. Cook slow and low for at least 5 hours or until tender.

Around 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, put the sweet potato wedges into a roasting tin and add 1tbsp olive oil. Season well and toss. Put in the oven underneath the pork.

Increase the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C), Gas Mark 7. Uncover the pork then put it back in the oven to crisp for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and rest for 30 minutes. The joint will be a delicious deep brown colour.

For the sweet potatoes, roast at the higher temperature for 10 minutes, then once you've taken the pork out to rest, reduce the heat to 150°C (fan 130°C), Gas Mark 2 and continue to cook for a further 20-30 minutes until tender.

Use two forks to shred the pork in its cooking juices, into chunky pieces to serve with the potato wedges and simple green salad.