Lunch: Roast Pig

Ingredients

3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh rosemary
2 heads garlic, halved horizontally, plus 5 garlic cloves
1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing and drizzling
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 (6 1/2-pound) boneless pork butt (pork shoulder)
2 baby potatoes, halved
1 cup dry white wine

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a food processor, combine the sage, rosemary, the 5 garlic cloves, fennel seeds, olive oil, and salt and pepper and blend until a paste forms. (You can also mash these ingredients together with a mortar and pestle.) Using a sharp knife, butterfly the pork butt, so it opens up like a book. (You can also have your butcher do this for you.) Rub the inside cut of the meat with the paste. Using kitchen twine, tie the butterflied pork back together to make a compact shape. Place the halved garlic heads and potatoes, cut-sides down, on the bottom of a roasting pan to create a bed for the pork butt so it doesn't sit directly on the surface of the pan. Place the pork fat-side up on the bed of garlic and potatoes, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 5 hours, or until the skin is browned and the meat is extremely tender; pour the wine over the pork after the first 30 minutes of roasting and baste the meat with the collected pan juices every 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes. Remove the twine before cutting the pork into 12-inch-thick slices. IMPORTANTE! After slow-roasting the pork, the garlic should be soft. Spread it on bread for an appetizer. Serve with these Oven-Roasted Potatoes. The potatoes make for a nice cook's treat-snack on them while you're waiting for the pork to rest.

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