Stinco (shin or shank) is popular throughout Italy, both for slow roasting and, in the case of pork shins, also for curing into salami and sausages. When buying pork shanks, bear in mind that although they look quite large, the majority of the weight consists of bone, so one shank has only enough meat for two people. The meat is well suited to long, slow cooking and the fact that it is on the bone makes this pork cut extremely tasty. The addition of oranges really brings out the flavour of the meat in this simple-to-prepare and unusual Sunday roast.
Prep time: 40min – Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 pork shins, about 1.5kg each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 red onions, finely sliced
2 carrots, sliced lengthways
2 sprigs of rosemary
400ml dry white wine
300ml vegetable stock
4 oranges + grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
125g sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Put the shins in a roasting tin, rub all over with salt and pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 1 hour.
Add the vegetables, rosemary, wine and stock to the roasting tin and continue to cook for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the oranges and sauce. Peel 4 oranges and cut into 1cm slices. Bring some water to the boil in a small pan, add the orange slices, boil for 1 minute, then remove, drain and set aside. Put the juice of 2 oranges in a small pan with the sugar and 125ml water and cook on a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside.
About 15 minutes before the end of the pork’s cooking time, add the orange slices to the roasting tin and pour over the orange sauce.
When the pork shins are cooked, put them on a large serving dish together with the vegetables, orange slices and juices. Sprinkle all over with orange zest and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Carve and serve.
