Name: Chef John's Pumpkin-Braised Pork
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: Boneless pork shoulder - 3 ½ pounds; Kosher salt - 1 tablespoon; Freshly ground black pepper - 2 teaspoons; Cayenne pepper - ¼ teaspoon; Dried thyme - ½ teaspoon; Crushed fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon; Chopped fresh rosemary - 1 tablespoon; Thinly sliced shallots - ⅓ cup; All-purpose flour - 2 tablespoons; Olive oil - 1 tablespoon; Volleyball-sized sugar pumpkin - 1; Hard apple cider, or more as needed - 2 cups

Ingredients for - Chef John's Pumpkin-Braised Pork

1. Boneless pork shoulder 3 ½ pounds

2. Kosher salt 1 tablespoon

3. Freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons

4. Cayenne pepper ¼ teaspoon

5. Dried thyme ½ teaspoon

6. Crushed fennel seeds 1 teaspoon

7. Chopped fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon

8. Thinly sliced shallots ⅓ cup

9. All-purpose flour 2 tablespoons

10. Olive oil 1 tablespoon

11. Volleyball-sized sugar pumpkin 1

12. Hard apple cider, or more as needed 2 cups

How to cook deliciously - Chef John's Pumpkin-Braised Pork

1 . Stage

Cut pork into large chunks. Place in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme, fennel seeds, rosemary, and shallots. Mix thoroughly and cover pork with parchment paper. Refrigerate to let flavors develop, 8 hours to overnight.

2 . Stage

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

3 . Stage

Add flour to pork and mix to coat. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork in 2 batches until browned, about 3 minutes per side.

4 . Stage

Insert the tip of a knife at a 45-degree angle into the top half of the pumpkin. Slowly cut all the way around to remove the 'lid'. Scrape seeds and fibers off the bottom of the lid and inside of the pumpkin using a large spoon or ice cream scoop.

5 . Stage

Line the bottom of a baking pan with parchment paper and place pumpkin on top. Stuff the pumpkin with the browned pork; pour in cider. Cover with the top.

6 . Stage

Bake in the preheated oven until pork is very tender, about 4 hours. Pour in a little more cider after a few hours in the oven, since a lot of it evaporates. Remove from the oven and let rest; brush pumpkin with some of the rendered fat from the bottom of the pan.

7 . Stage

Scoop pork onto serving plates and cut out pieces of pumpkin to serve alongside. Combine remaining rendered fat with cooking liquid from inside the pumpkin. Let sauce rest for a few minutes so you can skim off most of the fat. Spoon sauce over the pork.