Don Struble’s Puerto Rican Pork Roast

PRPorkSlicedbfLOHow’s this for a little something different?

A boneless pork roast marinated in hot sauce and Worcestershire and salt and pepper, then stuffed with Spanish olives and garlic and uncured pepperoni and baked. I first came across this recipe years ago on a search of da Google (thank you, Mr. Struble and nice folk at allrecipes.com) and made it a LOT, but then forgot about it in the rush of new ways to roast pork that did not involve my father’s method of roasting it in water until it’s dusty, then eating it cold with ketchup – yecch.

Then, out of the blue, Rich mentioned this past weekend that a bit of the old DBPRPR sounded good, and I just happened to have a roast pork in the freezer, and then realized that I had never shared this bit of porcine goodness here, and it all came together.

TableEarlsbfLODon’t fret about the hot sauce – this is not a super spicy roast, it kind of just gives it a smoky crust.

INGREDIENTS
•3 lb boneless pork roast
•1 tbsp hot sauce – I used Earl’s
•2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•Stuffed green olives
•Pepperoni slices
PRPorkReadyToRoastbf•4 garlic cloves, sliced
•Salt and pepper to taste
•3/4 cup water
Roughly chopped celery, carrots, onion and bell peppers – whatever combination you like – for the pork to rest on in the roasting pan

PRPorkRoastSlicedhmbfLOCombine the hot and Worcestershire sauce and rub all over the roast, then season with salt and pepper and rub that in as well. Let rest in the fridge for thirty minutes.

Heat oven to 350º.

Using a small knife, poke holes about 1 inch deep all around the roast and insert an olive with a slice of pepperoni and garlic – it helps if you twist the knife in the hole a bit.

Nestle the pork on top of your chopped veggies, give a drizzle of hot sauce, if desired, and pour the water over.

PRPorkRoastSlicePlateSweetPotatoesbfLOPop into the oven and roast, uncovered, for about 30 minutes per pound for about 90 minutes to 2 hours – until a thermometer inserted in the center of the roast reads 160º.

Remove from the oven, tent with foil, and set aside to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. And, by the way, you can certainly serve those veggies you roasted the pork on, if you like.

I opted to serve ours with spicy diced and baked sweet potatoes and a salad with new and improved garlic dressing – I KNOW I labeled that recipe as a Best! – but you would not believe how much more bestier it is when you use roasted garlic!

A fine feast, indeed.

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