Roast Shoulder of Pork with Crispy Crackling

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F.
2. Dry the skin of the shoulder of pork first as moisture = chewy crackling which we don’t want! Then place pork on a tray skin-side up.
3. Score the fat in diagonal lines quite deeply, but not so far as to cut into the meat itself.
4. Turn the pork over. Mix together the garlic, thyme, parsley and black pepper in a bowl and spread the mixture onto the pork and in any grooves of the pork.
5. Turn the pork back over so it's skin side up. 
6. Rub the salt all over the skin.
7. Place on a wire rack over a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 2 hours and 30 minutes.
8. Once the pork has reached the end of the 2 hour 30 minute cooking time, remove from the oven and turn the oven up to 220°C/425°F.
9. Transfer any pork juices to a saucepan scraping off any crispy bits in the tin, then dry off the roasting tin and place the pork back on the wire rack over the roasting tin.
10. Place back in the oven for roughly 20-25 minutes, turning a couple of times to  allow the skin to crisp up. Keep a close eye on the joint to ensure the skin doesn't burn. (*See notes section below for more details).
11. In the meantime make your gravy, heat the pork juices in the saucepan. And stir in the chicken stock dissolved in 720ml of warm water, bring to the boil and lightly season with salt and pepper.
12. Stir in the cornstarch mixture using a whisk, until the gravy thickens. Then stir in the gravy browning if you like a darker gravy. Allow to bubble then turn off the heat.
13. Remove the pork from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
14. Once rested, add any pork juices from the roasting tin to the gravy and heat it through again. Check the gravy for seasoning and add a little more salt and pepper if needed.
15. Serve the pork with the gravy, some apple sauce and your desired vegetables.

Notes

*My crackling won't go crispy and I'm worried the pork will be dry if I cook it for longer. No worries, take the pork out of the oven, carefully cut off the skin and cover the meat to keep it warm, then place the crackling back in the oven and cook by itself, keeping a close eye on it so it doesn't burn, until crisp.