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Autumn Pork Roast with Pears and Parsnips

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Autumn Pork Roast with Pears and Parsnips

A warming one-pot supper, with pork steaks, English pears and sweet autumnal root vegetables in a maple syrup glaze.

  • Gluten Free
Preparation time:
20 minutes
Cooking time:
25 minutes to 35 minutes
Total time:
45 minutes to 55 minutes 55 minutes
Serves:
 4

Ingredients

  • 3 medium parsnips, peeled and quartered
  • ½ medium butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
  • 1 red onion, quartered
  • 3 under-ripe English pears, peeled, quartered and cored
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 pack Waitrose British Pork 4 Prime Loin Steaks (about 660g)
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Put the vegetables, pears, garlic, thyme and pork steaks in a large shallow roasting tin. Drizzle with the maple syrup and oil, season, then turn with a large spoon or your hands, remembering to wash them thoroughly after handling the raw meat.
  2. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning the mixture once. Increase the heat to 220°C, gas mark 7 and roast for 5-10 minutes more until the pork is cooked through with the fat starting to crisp, and the vegetables are beginning to caramelise.
  3. Serve the pork garnished with fresh thyme and lightly steamed green vegetables.

Cook's tips

Using under-ripe pears will ensure that they don't break up during cooking. Alternatively, replace the pears with quince.
Other root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, celeriac or carrots can be used instead of the parsnip.
Onion or spaghetti squash can be swapped for the butternut variety.

Drinks recommendation

Try an elegant white wine with notes of delicate honey and spice from Australia.

Comments and images

Average user rating 4 stars out of 5

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Fishcake

Fishcake 16 October 2008 12:12

This is a new family favourite - my husband constantly asks when I'm going to cook it again, and it has been a real hit with guests too. It's straightforward to cook, but you do need to make sure the pears are not too soft & ripe, or they disintegrate with cooking. I've also made it with sausages instead of the pork steaks, which worked very well too.

Susanna Winters

Susanna Winters 01 October 2008 16:42

Really liked this recipe, especially as, after the initial chopping, it's all ready in one dish together. It does no harm to lengthen the cooking time, but do make sure pears are under-ripe. The pears compliment the pork very well.

appletree

appletree 11 November 2007 18:36

I carried on cooking for a further 15 minutes and still the vegetables were very hard, the pears were mush and the pork was tough ! Never again fir that one

Isaac

Isaac 30 October 2007 20:11

This worked well and I would certainly cook it again. As I was only cooking for two I halved everything apart from the oil and the maple syrup. Also par boiled (3mins) some salad potato halves and tossed them in as well. Deglazed the pan to release all the sticky goo and make a gravy.

Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear 17 October 2007 22:21

Thought this worked very well. Portions are very generous and if you are doing it for 2, an Acorn squash instead of the butternut and parsnips works really well. When I cook it again, I am going to toss the ingredients in oil alone and add the maple syrup later as the flavour didn't come across too well. I tried the recommended wine but think it would work better with a light red, say from the Loire.

Rico

Rico 17 October 2007 20:44

Easily prepared and could be prepared in advance. For some reason my parsnips were very hard even after I'd left them in for longer. You do need a big dish to spread everything out. Taste wise it was good and pretty difficult to go wrong.

Lucy_Locket

Lucy_Locket 16 October 2007 08:45

Not bad. Flavours complement each other, pear goes really well with Pork . It needs longer if you like your vegetables (and pork) golden brown. As I cook for one I quartered the recipe as best as I could, didn't bother with potatoes and got a very generous serving. Not a meal I would cook for a dinner party, but a good one to replace a roast dinner for one on a Sunday.

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4 stars out of 5

Average user rating Based on 89 ratings

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Nutritional Info

Typical values per serving:
Energy 597.0kcal
Sugars 40.9g
Fat 18.9g
Saturated Fat 4.7g
Salt 0.3g

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in October 2007