Middle Eastern Roast Pork with Roasted Roots and Yoghurt Dip

At the weekend, following a few weekends of eating a traditional Sunday roast dinner I fancied cooking something different - a twist on the classic and came up with this Middle Eastern-inspired pork shoulder joint that I marinated for five hours and it went down a treat, we'll definitely be having it again.

I served with some roasted 'roots' or carrots and parsnips drizzled with olive oil and scattered with cumin seeds and some garlic-roasted sweet potato plus a little wilted spinach and a quick yoghurt dip - delicious.

The below was enough for Glen, Bridget (age 2) and myself with a little sliced meat leftover for sandwiches the next day.

Middle Eastern Roast Pork and Roasted Roots

Here's how:

• 1 small pork shoulder (approx 1.5kg)
• The pork marinade:
• 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
• 1.5 tsp dried ginger
• 1 tsp ras el hanout
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sea salt

The roots:

• 1 pack baby parsnips
• 2 large carrots
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Everything else:

• Half pack spinach
• 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
• Handful parsley
• Handful coriander

Firstly combine the cumin, ginger, ras el hanout, pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon and paprika in a small bowl and mix to combine the spice mix. Get your pork joint into a large bowl and rub all over with the spice mix, into the creases of the meat to ensure it is fully coated.

Now wash your hands, and then cover the pork with either cling film or tin foil and place into the fridge to marinade for several hours. If you haven't got five hours, a couple will do.

Once the pork is sufficiently marinated, remove from the fridge for twenty minutes and pre-heat the oven to 180. Then place the pork into a roasting tin, fat side up, drizzle with a little olive oil and place onto the middle shelf. This will need 30 minutes per 500g plus an additional 20 minutes - or cook according to the packaging.

Whilst the pork is cooking, peel the sweet potatoes and chop into flat rounds and place into a small oven proof dish that you can mash into after roasting, place in four unpeeled garlic cloves and set aside.

If using the baby parsnips you can just cut the ends off but I like to peel too as Bridget won't eat them with the peel on. Place them into another roasting dish. Peel the carrots and cut into long wedges, similarly sized to the baby parsnips and add to the roasting tin. Drizzle with a generous glug of olive oil (1.5 tbsp) and then scatter over the cumin seeds and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper then toss to coat fully. Cover and set aside.

Cumin Roots

When you have about half an hour of pork cooking time left, place all of the roots into the oven to begin cooking - they will take about 45 minutes, which allows the meat some resting time.

For the yoghurt dip simply chop the parsley and coriander and add to a bowl with the yoghurt. Then once the sweet potato is out of the oven, take out one of the roasted garlic cloves and add to the dip and stir well. Leave in the fridge until serving.

When the meat is out of the oven, leave to stand and rest for 15-20 minutes before carving into thick slices.

Middle Eastern Pork

Place a drizzle of olive oil into a pan and wilt the spinach with a little salt for 1 minute whilst getting everything else out of the oven.

The sweet potatoes need to be gently crushed or mashed in their cooking vessel, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a teaspoon of cinnamon and stir through.

Roasted garlic sweet potatoes, pre mashing

Cumin roasted roots

Now use a platter or a wooden board and dish everything up accordingly, so the family can dig in and get as much or as little of what they want. Once the meat is on, drizzle over some of the yoghurt dip which complements the flavours really well. Enjoy!

Baby Bites Spiced Mince with Sweet Potato

Once you start introducing your little one to meat, you'll probably find there's no stopping them - at least that is what we have found with Bridget.

Starting with blander flavours to get them used to various textures is the norm, but there's no reason why what you give has to remain bland. I slowly introduced bolder flavours to my daughter with a sprinkle of cinnamon on eggy bread, some fresh herbs and various other gentle spices. This dish uses some more delicate spices and does pack a slight punch so add the spices a little at a time if you're nervous to offer spicier food. Again combining it with the sweetness of the potato will tone it down anyway.

The below makes enough for 10 portions and this freezes well. Just pop out a portion on the morning you need it and allow to defrost fully outside of the fridge before re-heating. 

250g lean steak mince
2 carrots
1 red onion
1 small clove garlic
1.5tsp cinnamon
1tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tbsp frozen peas
1.5 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tin of tomatoes or passata
Olive oil
1 large sweet potato

Firstly place the oven on at 180 and place the sweet potato inside to bake. If you are in a hurry you can pop it into the microwave for five minutes before putting into the oven and this will speed up the cooking time.

Next add a drizzle of olive oil to a pan and place on a low heat.

Finely dice the onion and carrot and crush the garlic and add this to the pan, allowing it all to soften.

Next add in the mince, using either a wooden spoon or plastic spatula to break up and ensure no nasty lumps are formed during cooking, keep moving it all around and allow to fully brown.

Once lightly browned, add in all the spices (paprika, cinnamon, coriander and turmeric) and stir through.

Add in the frozen peas and stir to evenly distribute amongst the mince.

Finally add in the tomato puree and passata or tinned tomatoes and stir once again. Now allow to cook slowly for 30 minutes or so.

Once the potato has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove it, discard the skin and place the flesh into a bowl and gently mash with a fork or potato masher.

Once the mince mixture has cooked for 30 minutes, remove from the heat and add to the sweet potato and stir to combine.

Allow to cool a little if serving right away and portion up into your freezable containers. Allow to fully cool before placing into the fridge or freezer.