Pernil Dominicano

Pernil dominicano is a Dominican roast-pork preparation. Clara Gonzalez’s selected shoulder version stuffs and coats bone-in pork shoulder with a coarse seasoning paste, then roasts it until the meat is tender and the skin golden.

In a blender, supplied pitted green olives, capers, chopped red onion, peeled garlic, dried ground oregano, black pepper, diced cubanelle pepper, lime juice and kosher salt form a coarse paste.

The pork shoulder is placed skin-side down on a baking tray. Deep holes are carved on the meat side without piercing the skin. A teaspoon stuffs the holes with seasoning, and the remaining paste is poured and spread over that side. The shoulder is tightly covered with aluminium foil and refrigerated to marinate.

The shoulder is placed skin-side up on a foil-lined roasting tray with a wire rack. The skin is patted dry with paper towels and rubbed with the separate skin-seasoning salt. A loose foil cover goes over the pork before roasting; a meat thermometer checks the center during cooking.

After the roast is cooked, the foil cover is removed and the pork returns to the oven until its skin is golden brown. It is removed, covered with a clean tea towel and rested before serving.