Simple 6-Spice Slow Roasted Paprika Pork

This Simple 6-Spice Slow Roasted Paprika Pork is perfect fall fare when the weather turns cooler. A quick 6-spice rub is applied to a pork butt or pork shoulder, which is slowly roasted in the oven until perfectly succulent. I like to serve this roast with a side of chive and horseradish mashed potatoes and simply dressed vegetables on a cold, rainy day. It just fills the house with the most amazing aroma, and warms the body and soul.

Adapting technique without compromising flavor – inspiration for this Simple 6-Spice Slow Roasted Paprika Pork recipe

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I wish you could smell my kitchen right now – fragrant like sweet peppers and slightly earthy. The lovely, warm notes of Hungarian Paprika and other spices are mingling with the sweet smell of slow-roasted pork. And if you peek through the stove window, you’ll see a beautiful roast that’s painted a vibrant red.

I love this recipe for the simple fact that in just two hours, you can put together a meal that looks and tastes like you were in the kitchen for nine.

Nine hours. That’s how long it took to prepare the original recipe upon which this Simple 6-Spice Slow Roasted Paprika Pork recipe is based. On a very old, tatted clipping from a newspaper from the early ’90s (I think it was either the Washington Post or New York Times, but I trimmed around the identifying info, so your guess is as good as mine) the original recipe for Paprika-Marinated Pork Loin call for an active prep time of 30 minutes and a total time of 9 hours, including time for marinating.

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A seasoned salt crust consisting of 10 garlic cloves, 1 cup of kosher salt, sweet paprika, water and a generous 1/4 cup of olive oil was packed around a pork loin and allowed to rest overnight. The next day, the roast was rinsed, patted dry, and cooked. The flavor was rich, tender and absolutely delicious.

I loved the flavor of this dish, but I also didn’t want to have to always think so far ahead or mess with the salt rub. Over the years, I looked for ways to get a similar appearance, flavor and texture, without the 9 hour wait. And if I could shorten up the time it takes to prepare the seasoning paste, as well, even better.

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Instead of using a pork loin, which is a leaner cut of meat, I turned to a pork butt (or sometimes a pork shoulder). It may come as a surprise, but both cuts come from the same area of the pig – the shoulder. Leave it to Cook’s Illustrated to produce the easiest, most concise explanation of these two cuts of meat, complete with images for easy identification. This is a page to print off or bookmark for future reference.

In this recipe for Simple 6-Spice Slow Roasted Paprika Pork, you can also use the pork shoulder, but I prefer a boneless pork butt (also known as “Boston Butt”. The meat is well marbled with fat, making it a delightfully, tender and unctuous cut. It’s also a relatively inexpensive cut of meat by today’s standards. This recipe calls for a 3-pound boneless pork butt, which generously feeds 4-6 people. At the time I am writing this post, I picked one up at the market for just $10 dollars and some change. It’s a great cut of meat to feed a family or larger group, without feeling like you have to take out a second mortgage on your home.

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You can still make this recipe with a bone-in cut. Just know it will take longer to reach the desired internal temperature of 145 degrees F.

This recipe also skips the salt crust method of seasoning and tenderizing the meat. Pork loin is a leaner cut of meat than pork butt. We don’t need to infuse more fat into the pork butt. It’s well marbled on its own. For this reason, you only need a couple tablespoons of oil to make a spreadable paste for the pork butt roast.

Dried spices bring a lot of flavor to this dish. Although I love the taste of fresh garlic, this recipe relies on garlic powder and the addition of onion powder to add a hint of these aromatics to this wet rub at a fraction of the prep time. I also included a touch of hot paprika for warmth – not a burning heat. However, you can substitute sweet Hungarian Paprika for the 1 Tbsp. of hot paprika this recipe calls for if you prefer.

Finding inspiration. Making something your own.

Speaking for myself, I often marvel at how inspiration strikes me. I’m the person who gets excited over a citrus display at the market. Watching my cats chow down on their catnip plants in the garden makes me wonder if there’s a way I can infuse it into a bake somehow. No, seriously, you may see a catnip cookie recipe for human consumption posted on this blog one of these days. Anything is possible.

My point is simply, when it comes to food and time spent in the kitchen, flow to whatever inspires you. Find a recipe to try, make it as intended and then, make it again. Only, on the second go-around, make it your own. Recipes are living documents. They are meant to be tinkered with. They can stand as originally developed, but it’s okay if they morph into something new.

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Simple 6-Spice Slow Roasted Paprika Pork

Recipe by Maria Ostrander Course: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

Resting time

10

minutes

NOTE: Cooking time is approximate and based on a 3-pound, boneless roast. Total cooking time will depend on the thickness of the cut (as early as 90 minutes and up to 2 hours).

Ingredients

• One 3-pound boneless pork butt (see notes within post on this cut of meat)

• For the paprika paste

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Sweet Hungarian Paprika

• 1 Tbsp. Hot Paprika

• 1 3/4 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp. onion powder

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Prepare the paprika paste
• In a small bowl, combine the spices and olive oil until a thick paste forms. Set aside.
• Prepare the pork butt
• Pat dry the roast with a paper towel and position the roast in an oven safe pan.
• Using a basting brush or the back of a spoon, spread the paste over the entire surface of the pork butt.
• Place the pork butt in the oven uncovered and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
• Roast uncovered for 90 minutes. At the 90-minute mark, insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of the roast to test the temperature. When the roast has reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F., it’s ready. Total cooking time will depend on the thickness of the cut.
• When the roast has reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, remove it from the oven. Tent with foil and allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Slice and serve immediately.