Pernil

• servings: 4-6
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: Overnight + 3-4 hours

Ingredients

4 lb pork (shoulder, leg, butt are all fine)

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 cup sofrito (I used the tomato-based goya brand, but make your own as desired)

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp chili powder (control the spice here)

1 tbsp black pepper

1½ tsp oregano

1½ tsp cumin

1 tsp onion powder

1 sazon seasoning packet (make your own blend if you can’t find)

Directions

Slice a few shallow slits into the pork (fat side) and stuff them with half of the garlic cloves, reserving the other half for later.

Combine all of the spices and rub them all over the pork. Once fully coated, rub on the sofrito and put the reserved garlic on top (fat side). Wrap the meat tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours in the fridge, ideally overnight.

On the day of cooking, remove the pork from the fridge for about 30 minutes to bring it closer to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Remove the pork from the plastic and place it fat side-up onto a wire rack placed over a baking sheet (I recommend lining the baking sheet with aluminum foil for ease of cleanup).

Roast in the oven for 3-4 hours, or until the internal temperature reads 180 F and it’s fork tender with a crispy exterior.

Remove the pork from the oven and rest for about 20 minutes before digging in. Slice or shred the pork prior to serving with rice and beans.

Notes

A popular Puerto Rican roast pork dish most likely served during the holidays, most commonly served with arroz con gandules, or any other rice and beans you’d like. This dish takes some planning, but the overall active time is very low. A fatty cut of pork is marinated overnight in spices and a sofrito, then is slowly roasted to finish. The soft interior texture coupled with the heavily seasoned crispy crust is addicting and especially good fresh out of the oven. The recipe listed here makes quite a bit of food, so shrink the portions as needed!