I really love pork and one of my favorite cuts is the pork shoulder. Sliced into steaks, it's one of my family's favorites on the grill with lots of cracked pepper and lemon. Cooked whole and braised for hours in the oven, it becomes pulled pork. It's a really versatile and delicious cut of meat. In my version, San Marzano tomatoes and peperoncini are put into a big pot with the pork and cooked for about 5 hours. The result is a tender, fall-apart pork with tangy sauce.
You can also make this in a crockpot, if you like. The cooking time will be more like 10 - 12 hours.
Italian Pulled Pork
for a printable recipe, click here
serves a crowd
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 6-pound pork shoulder (don't obsess on size)
- 1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ cup sliced golden peperoncini (use the hotter variety for more heat)
- 3 whole garlic cloves
- 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
In a small bowl, mix together the pepper, salt, onion powder and oregano. Rub the pork shoulder completely with the rub. Place the pork shoulder in a large dutch oven (I like using my Le Creuset Bouillabaisse Pot.) Pour the tomatoes right over the pork, crushing them slightly with your hands. Add the rest of the ingredients and cover the pot. Cook at 300 for about 5 hours, turning the pork over once halfway through the cooking time.
Remove the pork from the pot and test to make sure the meat is very tender - it should just fall apart when you pull it with a fork. (If not, return to oven and allow to cook for another half hour). Place pork on a large cutting board. Shred the pork completely, removing the large bone.
With a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables from the liquid in the pot. You can boil this liquid down a little bit over the stove for about 15 minutes if you want it slightly thickened. If not, just return the shredded pork to the pot and mix well with the liquid. Serve with crusty sliced Italian bread or just regular buns.
