Crock Pot Roast Pork

Don’t have time to make dinner tonight because the kids are headed to the game, you’re going to be at the pool all day, or you have a really busy evening planned? Try making this crock pot roast pork. It’s easy to set in the morning before you leave, especially with the new digital crockpots, and when you get home you have a wonderful dinner fully cooked and ready to eat. I really suggest the digital crockpot for this as it can turn off automatically and stay on to keep warm but a regular one can work as well.

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 medium potatoes quartered
• 1 medium onion quartered
• 4 to 6 large carrots quartered
• 4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 3 pounds of boneless pork shoulder roast
• 1 fresh spring of Rosemary bundled
• 1 fresh sprig of thyme bundled
• 1/2 cup of dry red wine
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp of Olive oil
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Rub the pork shoulder roast with the minced garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, pepper, and salt well. Ensure the entire outside is completely covered with this mixture. Place this inside of an airtight bowl to rest in the refrigerator while you prepare the vegetables.
2. Collect the potatoes, onion, carrots, and any other vegetables you would like to add. Quarter them roughly and place them in the bottom of the crockpot.
3. Heat the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Once the olive oil is warm enough, sear the pork shoulder for two to three minutes on each side. This locks in the moisture while cooking.
4. Place the pork roast in the crockpot on top of the vegetables. Scrape everything out of the pan on top of the pork roast into the crockpot.
5. In a separate bowl mix together the balsamic vinegar, red wine, and chicken broth. Whisk well.
6. Pour the mixture on top of the pork roast.
7. Cover the crock pot and turn it on high. If you need it to take more than 8 hours to cook because you won’t be home for another 12 hours, put it on low cooking. On high it will be finished in 6 to 8 hours and on low, it will be finished in 12 to 14 hours.
8. Come home and serve warm.

Tips:

• Other vegetables that can be used in the bottom of the crockpot include celery, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, Jerusalem artichokes, beets, shallots, bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and chunks of winter squash.
• Starting the roast, the night before ensures that it is finished within the proper cooking times and dry rubbing the roast the night before lets the spices soak into the meat.
• The broth can be taken out after serving and turned into a quick gravy with a little addition of cornstarch whisked into the broth and heated up over a pan.
• This of course pairs nicely with almost anything but it’s nice to have rolls, biscuits, and a hot fruit compote as dessert. In our house, it is served with tea and coffee but would pair well with just about any lovely drink including lemonade.