Pesto Pernil Al Horno lll (Roast Pork Shoulder)

Pernil horneado, or roasted pork shoulder, is a staple for many Latin dishes and is found is a range of Latin countries from Venezuela to Mexico.I forget how many times I have make this dish for hubby. He said if he dunno who am I , he might mistaken me for being a South America descend cook! Of course , I 'm not! what joke! I recalled the first time I make this dish, I was overwhelm but after few times ,I get use to it. Actually the preparation is quite easy and simple.But this time I use Pesto (Basil mixture) instead of oregano since I don't have enough dried oregano in my pantry and still have leftover pesto from previous cooking .Hubby dislike pesto flavor but he can't taste the different in the Pernil which is good for me!!

Ingredients for Pesto Paste:

8 cloves garlic(peeled)

4 shallot (peeled)

I bunch fresh basil leaves(washed to remove soil)

1 tbsp dried oregano

1/2 cup walnut

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp Paprika

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp Cayenne pepper

2 tbsp sea salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

*ground above ingredients blender until fine*

1 pork shoulder, 10-12 pounds (or use fresh ham)

Method Preparing the Meat:

1.Crush the garlic,shallot and fresh basil with mortar and pestle or blender until pasty. Place garlic mixture into a small bowl and mix with above seasoning well.

2.Wash the meat and dry. Score meat’s skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern.Make very deep slits all over the meat.Season the meat, making sure that seasoning goes into all the slits.Rub the remaining seasoning allover the shoulder pork.Score meat’s skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern.

3.Refrigerate the shoulder, wrap with aluminium foil, for 24 hours or overnight.
Place the meat in a deep pan with the fat side up. There will be a lot of grease so be sure to use a deep pan. The fat side up will make nice crunchy "cueritos" (pork rinds).

Method Baking:

1:Preheat oven to 375 F degrees to baking.Place pork shoulder with aluminum foil in a deep roasting pan and fill bottom with water. Roast pork for several hours (I calculate each pound is about 35- 45 minutes ), adding more water in tray as necessary, until meat is very tender.You might have to let it cook longer if the cueritos are not right yet. I check the meat with a chopstick.Poke chopstick or bamboo stick all the way through from the top.

2:Remove the aluminum foil the top part,let it cook for another 1/2 hour at broiling setting.Finish roasting with the skin side up until crisp and golden brown, raising heat at end of cooking if necessary.

3. If using a meat thermometer, it will be ready when it reaches 185F. But I prefer to use a chopstick to test the meat,insert a single chopstick all the way through the bottom.

4. Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it up; meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks.

Note:

Best to serve warm with bean and rice ,sweet plantains. Cold Pernil is sliced thin paired with Swiss cheese, pickles and ham to make the famous Cuban sandwich. I coated too much pesto paste on the skin which didn't create crunchy "chicharrón" skin. You can seee my previous pernil HERE