I remember clearly those Sundays while I was just a little girl, when I’d step into the hallway of our apartment building, and the smell of roasting meat would just swarm me from all around. The times were definitely different back then and big chunks of roasted meat were a luxury people would only serve on big Sunday meals or on holidays.

Nowadays, though, meat is pretty affordable. Roasting a big hunk of meat is easy and leaves you with plenty of leftovers to incorporate in your meals during the week. I love adding thinly sliced cold roast into my salads or sandwiches, just as much I love a fresh roast.

For a delicious roast, the only two things you need to do is to pick out a fresh and good quality chunk of meat and generously season it with salt and pepper the night before. That’s it. I prefer going for such neutral seasoning, so I can later play with add-ons while eating leftovers.

A lot of people prefer searing the meat in the pan before roasting, so the outer pores can seal and the meat is more juicy and tender. Honestly, I never bother with this. Mainly because I am too lazy to justify getting another dish dirty, but also because I prefer meat really well done. I’ve never had a piece of meat that was too dry for my unsophisticated palate.

INGREDIENTS:

(4.86 EUR)

1 kg pork loin (4.00 EUR)

1 tsp salt, divided (0.01 EUR)

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided (0.01 EUR)

3 tbsp oil, divided (0.04 EUR)

4-5 large potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks (0.80 EUR)

METHOD:

Pat dry pork loin from any liquids, rub well with about ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of pepper and refrigerate overnight in an open container. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly brush the meat and roasting pan with a bit of oil. Sprinkle a bit more salt and pepper on top of the pork loin. Scatter potatoes around the meat and toss with remaining oil, salt and pepper.

Roast all for 1 to 1 ½ hours, depending on how well done you prefer your meat, while stirring the potatoes once or twice during baking. Once done, allow the roast to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting into it and serving. This way the meat will relax after roasting and all the juices will redistribute evenly.

This amount of potatoes should be enough for 3-4 servings and you’ll have enough leftover meat to use up in later meals. Of course, feel free to add in more potatoes to your pan. As they bake, they’ll soak up all the delicious juices from the meat and taste heavenly.

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Dobro se sjećam tih nedjelja dok sam još bila mala, kada bi izašla na hodnik naše zgrade, a sa svih strana bi me oplahnuo miris pečenog mesa. Onda su vremena bila drugačija, a veliki komadi pečenog mesa bili su luksuz koji bi si ljudi priuštili za velike nedjeljne objede i za blagdane.

U današnje je doba meso poprilično jeftino. Ispeći veliki komad mesa je jednostavno, a kasnije vam ostane dovoljno ostataka da ih kombinirate sa obrocima kroz tjedan. Volim ubaciti tanko narezanu hladnu pečenku u salate i sendviče jednako koliko volim i svježe pečeno meso.

Za ukusnu pečenku trebate samo dvije stvari, a to su izabrati dobar i svjež komad mesa i večer prije ga pošteno začiniti sa solju i paprom. I to je to. Meni je draže koristiti takve neutralne začine, jer onda se kasnije kada jedem ostatke mogu poigrati sa raznim dodacima.

Dosta ljudi prije pečenja meso kratko poprži na tavi da se vanjske pore zatvore, pa unutrašnjost onda bude mekša i sočnija. Iskreno, meni se to nikada ne da. Uglavnom iz razloga što sam prelijena da opravdam prljanje još jedne posude, ali također i zato što volim kada je meso jako dobro pečeno. Još mi se nikada nije desilo da pojedem komad mesa koji je presuh za moje nesofisticirano nepce.

SASTOJCI:

(36,41 kn)

1 kg svinjskog buta (30,00 kn)

1 žličica soli, podijeljena (0,01 kn)

1 žličica svježe mljevenog crnog papra, podijeljena (0,10 kn)

3 žlice ulja, podijeljene (0,30 kn)

4-5 velikih krumpira, oribanih i narezanih na kocke (6,00 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Kuhinjskim ručnikom dobro posušite but od bilo koje tekućine, utrljajte u meso oko ½ žličice soli i ½ žličice papra i ostavite preko noći u hladnjaku u otvorenoj posudi. Kada ste spremni za pečenje, zagrijte pećnicu na 200°C. Lagano premažite meso i protvan sa malo ulja. Posipajte još mrvicu soli i papra po butu. Krumpire raštrkajte oko mesa i pomiješajte sa preostalim uljem, soli i paprom.

Pecite sve 1 do 1 ½ sat, ovisno o tome koliko dobro pečeno volite meso, s time da jednom ili dva puta promiješate krumpire tijekom pečenja. Kada je sve gotovo, pustite da pečenka odmara oko 15 minuta prije nego što ju krenete rezati i posluživati. Na taj način će se meso opustiti i svi će se sokovi u njemu jednako preraspodijeliti.

Ova bi vam količina krumpira trebala biti dovoljna za 3-4 porcije te će vam još ostati i nešto mesa, da ga iskoristite u kasnijim obrocima. Naravno, slobodno dodajte još krumpira. Kako se peku, oni će upiti sve ukusne sokove iz pečenke i biti prefini.