slow-roasted pork neck with maple pears and turnips

you'd have to have spent all your life under a rock if you didn't know roast pork and applesauce were a tasty combination, but what about roast pork and.....PEARS!? you'll be nicely surprised to learn that there exists another sweetly-tasting alternative to the slightly cliched roasted pig and applesauce offering. delicately piquant and lusciously sweet, this slow-roasted treat is definitely worth the wait.

things you will need:

800g to 1kg piece of pork neck or shoulder
2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard
8 slices of prosciutto
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups of chicken stock
1 bulb of garlic, not peeled, but sliced in half
2 medium red onions, sliced into wedges
3 pears, halved
2 tablespoons of shredded sage leaves
quarter of a cup of maple syrup (the real stuff please!)
a few extra fresh sage leaves to serve
3 or 4 large turnips
olive oil

what you will need to do:

preheat oven to 180C. using a knife, spread the mustard over the pork, then lay out the prosciutto and wrap the pork. place the pork in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with pepper (no salt as the prosciutto will be salty enough). place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

remove from the oven and add the halved pear pieces, onion wedges, garlic (break the halved bulb into individual garlic pieces) and pour over the chicken stock. sprinkle the shredded sage over and season with salt and pepper to taste. add the maple syrup and then cover with foil. return to oven and bake for a further two and a half hours. pork will be tender and juicy when cooked.

when the pork has about 40 minutes cooking time remaining, put the turnips into the oven. to prepare, peel and chop the turnips into a large pieces, then season in a large bowl with salt, pepper and olive oil. roast in a separate pan.

to serve, slice the pork and serve with the other veggies and turnips, and spoon over the pan juices generously then sprinkle with some more fresh sage.