Quick pork roast and potatoes

There wasn't time (or enough light) for a picture yesterday night but the scene would have deserved one: beautiful pork roast fresh out of the oven, nice and crisp on the outside, soft and juicy at heart, surrounded by potatoes and shallots soon to melt in my mouth... I wish I could have recorded the smell too. It only took 5 minutes to prepare (including a trip to the backyard to get a bay leaf!) and 1 1/2 hours to cook (without doing anything). Totally worth the wait.
  • 1 boneless pork shoulder butt (ours was 2.3 lbs, a little over 1 kg)
  • 2 golden yolk potatoes (you can use more... I'd say at least one per person)
  • 4 shallots
  • 3 or 4 sprigs thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup dry white wine (Pino Griggio makes wonders)
  • a few tablespoons olive oil
  1. Place the pork roast in an oven-safe dish. Season with salt and pepper on all sides.
  2. Peel the shallots. Cut the larger ones into 2 or 4 pieces. Keep the smaller ones whole. Place all around the roast at the bottom of the dish.
  3. Peel and slice the potatoes (about 1/4" or 3/8" thick, less than 1 cm). Arrange them in the dish around the roast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Place the thyme and bay leaf on the roast's sides. Pour 1/2 cup white wine all over the dish, especially on the potatoes (to soak them). Keep the other 1/2 cup wine for about 30 minutes before the end of cooking time (pour it on the potatoes to prevent them from drying up).
  5. Pour the olive oil on the roast (so that it gets a nice color) and on the potatoes (to make them tender and juicy).
  6. Bake at 425F (220C) for about 1 1/2 hours (count about 30 minutes per pound), or until a thermometer reads 160F (71C) in the center of the meat. Keep in the oven 5 more minutes (oven turned off) then slice the roast (1/2" to 2/3" thick, less than 2 cm). Serve with the potatoes and shallots. Don't forget to pour the dish's juices on the meat.
  7. Slice the leftover meat thiner and eat cold with Dijon mustard in sandwiches or with a crisp greens salad.

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