Slow-roasted ham with lemon, garlic & sage

Method9 steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Heat the oven to 200 °C /180 °C fan/gas 6. Peel and finely chop all five garlic cloves, wash and zest the lemon, and wash the fresh sage leaves. Bash all the garlic, lemon zest, sage, twelve grams paste salt and ten grams ground black pepper together with a pestle and mortar until they form a paste.

   Uses 5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped · Zest of 1 lemon · 12 g salt for the garlic-sage paste · 10 g ground black pepper for the paste · Fresh sage leaves for the pork paste, as desired

2. 2

   Step 2: Stir all fifty millilitres vegetable oil (50 ml) into the prepared paste. Spread the oily paste over the flesh of the raw skin-on pork shoulder (2 kg), avoiding its top skin. Score the skin carefully with a sharp knife and rub the separate large pinch of skin salt into it.

   Uses All prepared paste · 50 ml vegetable oil · 2 kg raw skin-on pork shoulder · 1 large pinch salt for the scored pork skin

3. 3

   Step 3: Tie the paste-rubbed pork shoulder into a compact joint with kitchen string, keeping the scored skin facing upward.

   Uses The complete prepared raw shoulder

4. 4

   Step 4: Line a large baking tray with a double layer of foil and set the tied pork on it, skin-side up. Bring the foil sides up to form a parcel around the meat. Pour all five hundred millilitres dry white wine around the sides inside the parcel.

   Uses The complete tied shoulder · 500 ml dry white wine

5. 5

   Step 5: Put the pork parcel in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 140 °C /120 °C fan/gas 1. Roast for four to five hours until the pork is cooked through and a thermometer inserted into its thickest part reads 70 °C.

   Slow-roast pork shoulder to 70 °C · 300 minUses The complete assembled pork parcel

6. 6

   Step 6: Increase the oven to 240 °C /220 °C fan/gas 9. Carefully spoon the cooked pork roasting juices from the foil parcel into a saucepan, keeping the cooked shoulder in its foil-lined tray.

   Uses The complete cooked pork and its parcel juices

7. 7

   Step 7: Simmer the collected cooked roasting juices over medium heat for ten to fifteen minutes until their volume has reduced by one third, leaving about two thirds as sauce. Taste and add the separate finishing salt or black pepper only if needed. Keep the finished sauce warm while the pork skin crisps and the joint rests.

   Reduce cooked pork juices by one third · 15 minUses All collected cooked roasting juices · Extra salt for tasting the reduced sauce, only if needed · Extra ground black pepper for tasting the reduced sauce, only if needed

8. 8

   Step 8: Meanwhile, arrange the foil around the cooked pork flesh so only the scored skin is exposed. Return the joint to the 240 °C /220 °C fan oven for ten to fifteen minutes until the skin is puffed and browned all over.

   Crisp the cooked pork skin · 15 minUses The complete cooked shoulder remaining in its foil

9. 9

   Step 9: Take the crisp-skinned pork out of the oven and leave it to rest for twenty minutes before removing the string and slicing. Serve as six portions with the prepared warm reduced sauce drizzled over.

   Rest pork shoulder before slicing · 20 minUses The complete cooked joint · All finished warm sauce