Harry's Harissa Pork & Sweet Potato Recipe

A generous, flavour-driven dish that brings together the bold spices of North Africa with the richness of mashed sweet potato. The warmth of harissa, balanced by the pork’s succulence and sweet root vegetables, finds a natural partner in the vibrant red fruit and supple spice of our 2023 Farmer’s Heart Grenache. Choose a harissa paste to suit your preferred level of heat and allow the wine to elevate every layer of flavour.

Perfectly paired with Wirra Wirra's 2023 Farmer’s Heart Grenache. 
Serves 4 people. 

Ingredients
Piece of flat pork belly (¼ of a pork belly side)
1kg sweet potato
100g salted butter
Tsp salt

Pork Marinade
3 tbsp of Harissa paste
Cup of sherry or port (Any fortified wine will do)
½ cup of honey
Tbsp of minced garlic
Tbsp of caraway seed (fennel seed is a good alternative)
Tbsp ground cumin
Juice of one lemon
Tbsp salt (half for the pork, half for the marinade)

Method
1. Whisk together the ingredients for the pork marinade until the honey, sherry and citrus combine.
2. Gently score the skin of the pork belly and salt the skin.
3. Rub the pork with the marinade.
4. Line the bottom of a heavy based pan or roasting dish with baking paper and leave pork skin side up. Leave to marinate while you work on the potatoes.
5. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
6. Peel and roughly chop sweet potatoes.
7. Roast the pork for 1 hour.
8. With 10 minutes remaining on the roasting time, boil sweet potatoes with a tsp of salt until they are soft.
9. Remove pork from the oven, it should have absorbed most of the marinade. Remove from pan and rest.
10. Remove potatoes from the heat and drain. Put the sweet potato back into the pot, add butter and mash until smooth.
11. Slice the pork to serve. We serve ours with fresh coriander and buttered corn on the cob.