Last Updated on 3 years by Tim

There’s no doubt for me that pork makes for the juiciest and most succulent roasts. It’s divine to bite into a tender and perfectly marbled piece of pork covered in a rich gravy that holds all the glorious meat juices.

In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to prepare a Swabia-style pork pot roast. It’s made from the pork neck and super easy to prepare. The meat stays super juicy as it is braised in a closed Dutch oven inside its own gravy.

For me, pork roast is one of the most iconic dishes of German cuisine. This dish is really a must-try for anyone interested in experiencing the core flavors and what German cuisine is all about.

Chose the right cut of pork

It’s necessary that you chose a fatty cut of pork for this roast. The traditional and best cut for this style of pot roast is the pork neck which has a nice marbling and rather short fibers.

The size of the roast is up to your preference. I prepared this pork roast using a smaller piece of pork neck, about 2 pounds. This is enough to feed four people but if you love having leftovers or have a crowd to feed feel free to chose a bigger cut.

The pork gets marinated before roasting to give it an additional flavor boost. The spices I use are black pepper, caraway seeds, cloves, and dried marjoram. Make sure to add plenty of salt to your spice mixture and let the marinated pork sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours. That way your piece of pork gets seasoned more thoroughly.

Don’t skip searing your pork roast

The pork roast should always be seared in your hot dutch oven before braising it. This will give it a beautiful dark crust, deepen the flavor, and give you some fond to deglaze later.

Make sure to use plenty of clarified butter for searing so that the pork doesn’t stick to the pan. You can drain any excess fat later. It’s better to use way too much than too little.

And don’t turn up the heat crazy high. Medium to medium-high is enough. You want to avoid burning your spices completely. Of course, it’s unavoidable that they will burn to some extent but if they turn completely black they will introduce an unpleasant bitterness into your sauce.

Once your pork is seared, you can take it out and start sweating your aromatics for a few minutes. The aromatics used in this pork pot roast are nothing out of the ordinary: Onions, garlic, carrots, leek, and celeriac. The traditional soup vegetables which you hopefully always have on hand.

The pot then gets deglazed with white wine and beef broth. Once these are at a simmer you can add your pork back into the Dutch oven along with a bouquet garni.

Cook the pork roast to your preferred level of doneness

Cover with a lid and let the pork slowly braise in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 °F (68 °C). At this point, the pork is still very juicy and just barely cooked through. That’s optimal for a cut of fatty pork.

However, if you like your pork a little more pink or more well-done feel free to pull it out earlier or later. Everyone has his own preferences regarding the doneness of meat. And I won’t judge you on your preferred level of doneness.

The biggest mistake you can make after pulling your pork roast out of the oven is to slice it directly. Yes, it is tempting to just slice into it and eat it piping hot. But you will lose all the juice inside the pork that way. Wrap the roast in aluminum foil and let it rest for at least 10 minutes while you finish the sauce.

How to finish the sauce and serve your pork roast

The sauce needs to be strained through a fine-mesh sieve and thickened using potato starch. Add just a little bit of your potato starch slurry at a time so that you don’t accidentally end up with a rubbery gel. It’s better to make the sauce a little thinner than desired because it will get thicker once it cools down a little. You can also leave the starch out completely and eat the sauce unthickened if you prefer.

Before serving, cut the pork roast into thick slices. That way your pork stays juicier and won’t cool down as quickly. I recommend serving it with some homemade spätzle or bread dumplings. Be generous with the sauce and offer some more on the table. It’s the best part of the meal. Besides the pork roast itself, of course.

In case you have any leftovers, you can either reheat and store them inside the leftover sauce or you can simply slice them very thinly deli-style and enjoy them with a slice of buttered bread the next day.

Pork Pot Roast (‘Schweineschmorbraten’)

November 27, 2019

by Tim

Cuisine German

Category Pork Roast Swabian

Persons

4

Notes

I recommend serving this pork roast with homemade spätzle or bread dumplings.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (900 g) pork neck

For the marinade:

• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon dried marjoram
• salt, to taste

For searing the pork roast:

• 4 tablespoons clarified butter

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 medium-sized white onions, chopped, about 1 cup
• 2 medium-sized carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick, about 1 cup
• 1 leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced, about 1.5-2 cups
• 1 cup 1/2-inch cubed celeriac
• bouquet garni, consisting of 1 bay leaf, 5 sprigs thyme, 1 sprig rosemary, 1 sprig lovage
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup homemade and unsalted beef broth
• 1/2 tablespoon potato starch
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt, to taste

Instructions

Marinate the pork:

• Crush the black peppercorns, caraway seeds, and cloves in a mortar or spice grinder. Don’t crush them super fine. They should still be a little coarse in texture. Mix them with the dried marjoram and add salt to taste. Rub the spice mixture into your piece of pork neck so that the entire surface is evenly coated. Cover the pork with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours, or even better, overnight.

Sear the pork:

• An hour before searing the pork, take it out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 300 °F (150 °C). Heat the clarified butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the pork for 2-3 minutes on each side. The pork is properly seared once it can be turned over without sticking to the pot. Once seared on all sides, take the pork out of the pot and set it aside. Drain away any excess fat that is left in the pot.

Sweat your aromatics:

• Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the butter into your dutch oven. Add the garlic and onions and sweat them for 1-2 minutes until the onions turn translucent. Add the carrots, leek, and celeriac. Sweat the aromatics for another 3-4 minutes. Add your bouquet garni and tomato paste and sweat the mixture for another minute. Deglaze the pan with white wine, let it come to a simmer, and simmer over medium heat until the white wine has reduced by 2/3. Add the beef broth and place the pork roast on top of your aromatics. Let the broth come to a simmer, then cover your dutch oven with a lid and place in the middle rack of your oven.

Roast your pork:

• Let the pork neck roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 °F (68 °C), which took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Take the roast out of the oven and let the meat rest wrapped in tinfoil for 15 minutes. In the meantime, pass your sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and discard all the aromatics. Prepare a potato starch slurry by mixing together 1/2 tablespoon potato starch and 1/2 tablespoon water. Bring the sauce to a light simmer and slowly drizzle in the potato starch slurry until the sauce has thickened to your liking. Don’t use too much potato starch. You don’t want to have a super thick and gluey sauce. I used only about 1/2 of the slurry. The sauce should still be runny once thickened. Season the sauce to taste with salt and stir in one tablespoon of cold butter to finish the sauce. Keep warm.

Serve your roast:

• Once properly rested, slice your pork across the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices. Serve together with spätzle or potato dumplings and a green salad.

Tags

pork,

roast meat,

swabian

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