Spiced Maple Glazed Pork With Roasted Sweet Potatoes And Pears

My neighbor had a wheel barrel and a sign reading “free pears” the other day… you can bet we stopped by!  What a happy day when someone shares the bounty of their land.  Certainly put me in the mood for whipping up some desserts and hearty fall fare, too, like this maple glazed pork recipe.

What pear inspired recipes are on your Rural Cookbook Shelf?

Spiced Maple Glazed Pork With Roasted Sweet Potatoes And Pears

Ingredients:

1 pork shoulder roast (about 6 to 7 lbs)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup water
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 large firm pears, peeled, cored, and quartered
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the salt, pepper, and cinnamon, then gently rub this mixture over the pork roast; then put in a large roasting pan, fat side up, and roast for about 2 hours or until the fat is golden brown.

To make glaze: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then add the maple syrup, brown sugar, cloves, nutmeg, and water, stir and bring to a boil, then immediately remove from the burner.

Put the sweet potatoes and pears in a large bowl, pour half the maple syrup mixture over them and toss until coated well.

When pork roast is done, remove the roast from the oven and arrange the sweet potatoes and pears around the pork roast. Carefully drizzle the remaining maple syrup mixture on the pork, coating the top and sides of the pork roast – use a brush if that works better.

Return the roast to the oven and cook an additional 1 hour. After the 1 hour, increase the oven temperature to 425 and continue to cook until the pork reaches 165 degrees with a meat thermometer and the vegetables are fork tender, about 30 to 40 minutes, a bit more or less.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and transfer the pork to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil and let rest 8 to 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

Spoon sweet potatoes and pears on each plate with pork, and spoon sauce from roasting pan over all. Will serve 8 to 10 people.

Enjoy!