Pork Shoulder with Fig Sauce
This sweet-and-savory pork shoulder recipe with honey, red wine-fig sauce, and lots of fruity figs is perfect for Thanksgiving dinners.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 10 oz dried Mission figs stems removed, halved lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 3 1/4 cups Pinot Noir red wine divided
- 3 1/2 pounds boned pork shoulder
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Put figs, honey, anise, 1 tbsp. thyme, and 1 cup wine in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until figs are just tender when pierced, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool and then chop
- Add half of the garlic and half of the figs in a bowl and stir to combine. Keep remaining garlic and figs separate.
- Using a sharp knife cut along the side of the shoulder bone, cut ¾ through the meat and open out the meat like and book.
- Take 4-5 strings of bakers twine so that it is spaced about 1 ½” intervals lengthwise under shoulder so that you will be able to easily pull end of strings together and secure
- Take half of the fig and garlic mix and spread in opening on shoulder
- Set aside remaining garlic and figs and their liquid.
- Secure bakers twine so that roast is secure and your fig mix will not fall out during cooking.
- Preheat oven to 325°. In a small bowl, combine 1 tbsp. thyme, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and the oil. Rub all over roast.
- In Dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add shoulder and sear until brown on all sides. Should take 8-10 minutes total. Once browned transfer shoulder to a cutting board.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining butter and garlic, stirring often until the garlic begins to turn light golden, about 1 minute.
- Pour in remaining wine from bottle and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon.
- Add shoulder back into Dutch oven, cover and place in oven. Bake pork until almost tender when pierced, 2 1/2 hours.
- Stir reserved fig mixture into Dutch oven with shoulder and bake, covered, until meat is tender, 30 minutes more. Pork should be falling apart. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil while it cools.
- Skim fat from pan juices. Place pan with juices on stove top and boil over high heat until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 tsp. thyme. Season with lemon juice, more salt, and pepper if you like. Set it aside.
- Remove twine from pork, then cut meat crosswise into thick slices. Garnish with thyme sprigs and serve with sauce.