Slow cooked loin of pork with beans and salsa verde

Serves 4-6

1 loin of pork, boned, with the rind removed, weighing about 1-1.5kg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A selection of seasonal beans and/or peas, around 120g, podded weight, per person
A handful of basil leaves
3-4tbsp olive oil

for the salsa verde

40g mint leaves
40g parsley leaves
40g green basil leaves
3tbsp capers, washed
200-250ml extra virgin olive
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1-2tsp Dijon mustard
6-8 anchovy fillets (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

First make the salsa verde by blending all the ingredients in a liquidiser to a coarse purée and then seasoning. You may need to add a little more olive oil to bind the herbs.

Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC/Gas mark 7. Score the fat of the pork in a criss-cross fashion and season. Roast the pork for 30 minutes, turning it halfway through, then turn the oven down to 160°C/Gas mark 3. Cook for 3 hours, basting and turning it a couple more times. For the last 45 minutes finish it fat-side-up.

Cook the beans individually until tender then toss them with the basil leaves and olive oil. Slice the pork into thickish 1cm slices and serve either on plates with the beans and a spoonful of salsa verde or on platters for guests to help themselves from.