Twelve Hour Roast Pork

Updating this post with a better picture! It probably sounds crazy to say, but I find myself returning to Suzanne's recipes over and over again. I've owned her healthy cookbooks for 2 decades, and many, many of the recipes are staples in my home!

This roast pork may look incredibly succulent and moist – crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside … and it is. But it also packs a heck of a punch. Depending on what dried chiles you use, you’re looking at some nice heat that builds up. And do NOT forgo the pan sauce – it adds so much additional flavor!

Twelve Hour Roast Pork

Courtesy of Suzanne Somers’ Get Skinny on Fabulous Food

Serves 15

1 whole shoulder of pork with skin (7to 9 lbs)

12 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1.6 oz bottle fennel seeds

Salt and freshly ground pepper

8 small dried chilies, crumbled (We used Aji Cereza Peruvian Chiles with wild success.)

Juice of 6 lemons

4 tbsp olive oil

Pan Drippings

1 14-oz can chicken broth

Juice of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 450˚.

Score the entire skin of the shoulder by slicing deeply through the skin and into the meat. Continue scoring, making cuts ¼ inch apart from one another.

Place the garlic, fennel seeds, salt and pepper to taste, and chilies in a food processor. Pulse until all the seasonings are coarsely ground. Rub this mixture all over the skin of the pork and into the cut areas to cover all the surfaces of the meat.

Place the shoulder on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes, or until skin begins to crackle and brown. Loosen the shoulder from the bottom of the pan and pour half the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the pork.

Turn the oven temperature down to 250˚ and roast the pork for 12 to 18 hours. The pork becomes almost shredded, crispy on the outside and moist from the juices on the inside. It’s ready when it is completely soft under the crisp skin. You can tell by pushing with your finger; the meat will give and might even fall off the bone. It will be cooked after 12 hours, but if you like it crispier, cook it for closer to 18 hours. Baste occasionally with the remaining lemon juice and olive oil.

For delicious pan drippings, remove the meat from the pan. Pour off most of the fat, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Place the roasting pan with all the bits of meat stuck to the bottom on the stove over medium heat. Scrape the bits as the pan heats up. When the pan gets good and hot, add the can of chicken broth and the juice of 2 lemons. Deglaze the pan by scraping all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the juices and the broth reduce for about 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the meat.

Editor’s Note: You may not get this far. I was forced to dump the chicken broth and lemon juice into the pan with the pork still in it, as we gathered around, pulling chunks of pork off the bone and dunking them. The sauce is incredible … it literally melts away any worries you might have been harboring during the day.

Twelve Hour Pork Roast

For a printable version of this recipe, please click here.