Ingredients
A pork roast
Marinade
Freshly cracked black pepper
Sea salt
Either a pork loin or a Boston butt bone-in pork shoulder will work nicely. Bone-in roasts such as the Boston butt shoulder are generally more flavorful and less expensive, but then there’s the bone to deal with and subtract from the weight of the cut. There’s no bone in a pork loin, which can save time and give you more meat for your money. A serving size of pork is about 4 ounces, so select your cut of meat accordingly. I cooked this meal using a 3.84-pound bone-in Boston butt shoulder, so adjust your cooking times and the proportions of your marinade as necessary for your roast.
Marinade
3 navel oranges
1 blood orange
8 cloves of garlic (or thereabouts)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating, quarter the oranges, leaving the peals on (you can use the two navel oranges left over from the fruit you zested for the cake), and then place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes or until the edges of the flesh are just starting to get dark. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cooled, squeeze the flesh into a bowl (the flesh should be fairly easy to remove from the skins at this point, but you can pull it out if it’s recalcitrant) then pour flesh and resulting juice into a blender. Blend until smooth. Roughly chop the garlic and add to the blender, then blend until smooth. Place roast in a large bowl and pour contents of blender over and around the meat. Refrigerate. Doing so overnight would be ideal, but let the meat marinade for at least 2-3 hours, if possible.
When you’re ready to cook the roast, take it out of the refrigerator and let it warm at room temperature while the oven heats to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the meat in a Dutch oven and then pour the remaining marinade over and around it, seasoning with freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt (you don’t need a lot of salt, but a little is nice). With the lid on, bake for 25-30 minutes per pound of meat, then check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer; a safe internal temperature for roast pork (measured at the thickest part of the cut) is 145 degrees Fahrenheit, though a range of 145-155 is fine, depending on how well done you prefer your meat to be. If your thermometer reads 150 or above and reddish juices still come out of the meat when you stick the thermometer in, don’t worry, it’s done.
I baked my roast for about 90 minutes at 325 degrees, then removed the lid of the Dutch oven, raised the temperature to about 425 degrees, and put my vegetables to roast on the top rack of the oven. If you do this, be sure to periodically check the roast to see how its internal temperature is progressing; once it reaches the ideal temp, remove it from the oven and place the meat on a serving platter to rest. Pour the remaining juices from the Dutch oven into a small saucepan and simmer on the stove until reduced into a slightly thick sauce. Place this into a gravy boat, small jug or small bowl to serve, and use on meat, polenta or vegetables, as appeals to you.
