Pork Carnitas with Salsa Verde & Calabacitas

About This Recipe

Carnitas translates to “little meats.” The pork is cooked slowly in orange and lime juice and then broiled to create crispy, flavorful bites.  The pork is a perfect pairing with homemade salsa verde.

Ingredients

• 3 lb pork butt roast
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 small yellow pepper
• 1 small red pepper
• ½ medium sweet onion
• 8 oz mushrooms
• 3 Roma tomatoes (seeded)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tomatillos
• 2 jalapeños
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ small white onion
• ¼ bunch cilantro
• 3-4 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Trim your roast of large pieces of fat and cut into 2 inch chunks.
2. Turn on your oven to 300°F.
3. Heat a large, oven safe pot (cast iron or dutch oveon the stove over medium high heat.
4. Add in the pork, the yellow onion (cut in half), 1 lime (juic eand its rind, 1 orange (juice and its rind, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 2 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a light boil.
5. Once boiling, cover the pot and place in the oven for 2 hours. If your pot doesn’t have a lid, use foil to create a seal.
6. The meat is done when it is easily broken apart with a fork.
7. Line a sheet pan with foil and transfer the chunks of meat from your pot to the sheet pan. Break each chunk into 3 or 4 smaller pieces but do not shred the meat.
8. Remove all of the solid ingredients from the liquid remaining in your pot. They can be thrown away.
9. Over high heat, reduce the liquid in the pot to create a syrup like sauce. This should take between 15 and 20 minutes. Stir the sauce frequently.
10. Once the sauce has thickened, add your meat back to the pot and gently cover the meat with the sauce. Be careful not to break up the meat any more than you already have.
11. Turn your oven to broil. Place the meat back onto the sheet pan and spread out. Broil the pork for 2-3 minutes or until it begins to crisp. Remove from the oven and flip the meat. Broil the other side for an additional 2-3 minutes. Be sure to watch the meat carefully as it can burn quickly.
12. Remove the husks from your tomatillos and wash all of your vegetables. Cut the stems off of the jalapeños, peel your garlic, and halve your onion.
13. Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Add in the tomatillos, garlic, onion, and jalapeños.
14. Boil for about 10 minutes or until the tomatillos turn army green.
15. While the vegetables are boiling, wash the cilantro and cut off the bottom of the stems. Add to your blender.
16. Cut your limes in half and juice the halves into the blender along with 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar and salt.
17. Add the boiled vegetables into the blender. Blend until the ingredients until there are no large chunks remaining. Add salt to taste.
18. Wash all of your vegetables and cut them into a large dice, each around the same size. Seed your tomatoes.
19. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Cook the vegetables in batches. Start with the onions and peppers. Once they peppers are soft, remove from the pan and cook the remaining vegetables.
20. When the mushrooms, zucchini, and tomatoes have cooked, add the onions and peppers back to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.
21. This recipe makes 5 servings. Divide your meat and vegetables 5 ways and add to each of your containers. Store the salsa verde in a separate, smaller container as you don’t want to heat it in the microwave.