Slow-cooked shoulder of pork with sage

Serves 6

Pour the sauce over the meat and serve (Lisa Barber)

2kg/4lb shoulder of pork (it will weigh 1kg once trimmed of its fat and deboned – ask your butcher to do this for you)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
600ml/1 pint sweet white wine or verjus
1 bunch of sage
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
3 dried chillies, crumbled
20 little ripe tomatoes, squashed
4 tbsp crème fraîche

Heat your oven to 160C/325F/Gas3. Place a pan large enough to accommodate the shoulder of pork on the stove. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper and add the oil to the pan. When the oil is very hot, lay the pork in and brown well for about 10 minutes on one side then carefully turn and brown the other side.

Remove the pork from the pan and pour off any excess fat. Turn down the heat on the stove and deglaze the pan with the wine.

Lay the browned meat in a roasting tray and add the sage, garlic, dried chillies and tomatoes. Pour over the wine from the pan and cover the tray with foil. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 11/2 hours.

Then remove the meat from the oven, take off the foil and turn the meat. Cover again and return to the oven. Cook for a further 11/2 hours, then remove. The meat should be so soft that it is falling apart.

Remove the meat from the tray and set aside while you finish the sauce. Place the hot tray over a medium heat on the stove and add the crème fraîche. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. Pour the sauce over the meat and serve.