Normally, we don’t do very much for dinner on New Year’s. I usually make my Hoppin’ John (you can find that recipe over on This Cookin’ Dad) and we might go out to Beth’s parents so that Beth can have the pork and sauerkraut that her mom makes every year. I’ve long since given up even trying that stuff. We don’t ordinarily do much here because the kids just haven’t been big enough eaters to warrant cooking up a big meal like that. This year, I decided to go for it with a Kale Stuffed Pork Shoulder!
It was so easy to put together that I’ll probably try to do other versions of this throughout the year. On top of that, the kids loved it. They ate up the meat, but they also ate up all of the greens that were stuffed inside. As you can see, I didn’t exactly hide them. I guess being flavored with so much pork fat made those greens pretty tasty. Pork fat will do that! I’ve seen recipes stuffing pork loin or pork tenderloin but, personally, I much prefer the pork shoulder. I call for a 3 lb. boneless should here, but those can be pretty hard to find. One great tip is to use your supermarket butcher. Grab a 6-7 lb. bone-in pork shoulder (aka Boston butt) and ask him to de-bone it. Sometimes, they can even butterfly it for you, opening it all up so that you can stuff it. I take that home and cut it in half for two roasts that’ll feed my family pretty well.
Honestly, that’s the hard part! If you can get the butcher to do that work for you, you’d be hard-pressed to find a reason not to make this recipe. I cross-cut the kale so that it almost shredded, small enough to cook up nice in the pork but still have a nice texture. Next I add in some parsley and minced shallot to help temper some of that bitter green taste. Mix those with salt, pepper, bread crumbs, and olive oil and you are ready to stuff your roast. Easy, right? Feel free to switch up the greens based on what you have or even use frozen spinach that’s been thawed and squeezed out. Here’s the full recipe.
Kale Stuffed Pork Shoulder
Ingredients
4 cups chopped kale
1 cup chopped parsley
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
salt and pepper to taste
1 3 lb boneless pork shoulder, butterflied
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine kale, parsley, shallot, bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup oil in a large bowl. Season with plenty of salt and pepper.
Lay plenty of the kale mixture onto the opened pork shoulder. Use more than you think you need (if it falls out when you roll it up, it wasn’t needed :)) Leave about 1-2 inches on one end of the shoulder kale-free. Starting with the covered end, roll the shoulder pretty tightly. Use kitchen twine to tie up the roast or skewers to hold it together. Season the roast with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add remaining oil. Sear the roast about 3-5 minutes per side. Place into the oven for 1 hour or until a thermometer reads about 160. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve. Enjoy!
What do you usually have for New Year’s dinner? Leave us a comment and share your story.
[…] Recipe: Kale Stuffed Pork Shoulder […]