The Way to a Man's Heart

My husband is possibly the world's fussiest eater. Easily in the all time top ten. As such I'm always on the look out for new foods to tempt him with.

Sometimes you see a recipe and know immediately that it's going to be a winner. This is based on a Hairy Biker recipe, tweaked to better match my husband's tastes and because I have neither the time nor the inclination to spend five hours tending to a barbeque.

Pulled Pork:

2kg boneless pork shoulder
50g brown sugar
4 tbsp smoked paprika
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp thyme
200ml tomato passata

1. Combine the dry spices in a bowl.
2. Score the rind of the pork. Rub the spices all over it, being sure to tuck it into all the folds of the meat and into the scored rind.
3. Put the meat, rind up, into the slow cooker with about 1 cup of water, cook on low for 8-10 hours.
4. (Optional, and very bad for you!) Half an hour before serving, cut off the rind (it falls away easily) and place in an oven proof dish. Heat the oven as hot as it will go and put it in for about 30 minutes or until it crisps and blisters.
5. Remove the meat from the cooker and allow to stand. Pour the spicy liquid into a saucepan with the tomato passata and simmer until slightly thickened.
6. Shred the pork with a fork, discarding any soft fat. Mix the tomato sauce back in.
7. Serve with crusty rolls and the crackling, if desired.

As a bonus - I had lots of extra sauce left over, so I threw it into a casserole dish with some cannellini beans and cooked for three hours on a low heat in the oven. Delicious smoky baked beans for just about no extra effort.

This is so good and makes a huge quantity very cheaply.  I can see this coming out on bonfire night. And - hooray! My husband liked it. One more meal for our menu.