Roast ham with mixed vegetables

The roast ham is a classic Christmas dish — or not-so-Christmas; for example in Galicia it’s a very popular dish with its little sauce.

Imagine: a piece of pork belly that we first simmer to make sure we make it tender, and that we finish by roasting in the oven so it releases its fat and becomes perfectly golden. Oh, and we serve it with little potatoes, sweet potato and onion. What Americans call comfort food through and through.

I know what you’re thinking: yes, the patorra can be cooked only in the oven, the time would be at least 2.5–3 hours, of which at least the first 1.5–2 hours the ham should be covered so it doesn’t dry out.

Le Creuset cast-iron roasting tray

Ingredients

• A piece of pork shoulder (paletilla), bone-in or boneless, 2.5 - 3kg
• 2 carrots
• 1 leek
• 3 onions
• A small sprig of rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• Cloves
• A splash of sweet wine
• 100gr of honey
• 3 tsp. of old-fashioned mustard
• Water
• 3-4 potatoes
• 1 large sweet potato
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. We start by salting the shoulder well the night before and placing it in a pot or casserole large.
2. The next day, we peel the carrots, the leek and one of the onions, and put them in the pot with the ham, along with the bay, the rosemary and a tablespoon of salt.
3. We cover with water and bring to a boil. We keep the simmer at low heat, with the pot covered, for at least an hour and a half to ensure it becomes tender.
4. We let the ham cool in the cooking liquid. We save the ham stock to reduce or for other uses; it can be frozen, it’s excellent to add to spoon stews.
5. When it’s cold, we take the ham out onto a board and remove the skin and some of the surface fat, although the latter is not essential (don’t throw away the skin: you can dry it in the oven cut into strips and they become wonderful cracklings).
6. We make a crosshatch in the fat and insert a clove into each intersection of the lines.
7. We warm the honey a little in a bowl, add the mustard and mix. We brush the entire ham with this glaze (there should be enough left to baste during cooking); we place it in a large roasting dish.
8. We peel the potatoes and the sweet potato, as well as the two remaining onions. We cut these into quarters and the potatoes and sweet potato into slices; we put everything around the ham.
9. We pour 3-4 ladlefuls of the cooking stock into the dish, as well as the splash of sweet wine. We salt everything well, since the tubers and the onions are on the sweet side.
10. We put the dish in a preheated oven at 180°C, on the lower rack, and roast for 20 minutes. We take out the dish, brush again with the honey, and return it to the oven for another 20 minutes or until nicely browned on top.
11. When the ham is ready, we take out the dish, cover everything with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes; this helps the juices redistribute back to the surface of the ham, which has dried out.
12. We carve into thin slices and serve with the vegetables and some sauce.

This oven-roasted ham with veggies has a delicious sweet-and-sour touch from the honey and mustard that goes perfectly with pork. An easy dish to make and very economical even though it seems almost luxurious, don’t you think? Perfect for the upcoming holidays. And if you have leftovers, it’s fantastic for all kinds of sandwiches.

Le Creuset roasting tray