Nothing says comfort like a house filled with the aroma of something that has been cooking for hours in a slow cooker. Although it can be challenging to be home smelling it cook and to have to wait until it’s done. It’s like burning a candle that smells like cake or cookies and having no cookies or cake to eat! Those candles are such a tease but thankfully this meal is not, you will be rewarded with something hearty and delicious!
Growing up it seems like Sundays were all about some kind of roast cooking in the slow cooker and it would be ready to devour by the time we came home from church. My Mom would always have a jar of homemade sweet pickles on hand and to me they were always the perfect companion to pork roast.
Jim and I have always enjoyed cooking pot roasts with pork instead of beef. This one is super flavorful and easy to pull off. We use purple potatoes in our version, but you can substitute any variety. I also like to serve mine over quinoa, but Jim still likes either white or brown rice. We don’t cook our pork until it’s falling apart. We like to be able to slice it… which leads to amazing leftovers. Sandwiches anybody??
These days we usually have one or two evenings during the week that are more hectic than others and I like to reserve a meal like this for those times. That way when we are done shuffling the kids to their various activities we have a nice homemade meal waiting for us and it is always a crowd pleaser.
- Full size pork loin roast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 3 carrots (sliced into chunks)
- 6 small purple potatoes (or new potatoes)
- 4 cups of water
- salt and pepper to taste
- Salt and pepper your pork loin liberally, then cut roast in half.
- Heat a large saute pan over high heat until smoking and then add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
- Saute each roast half until brown on all sides (about 3 minutes on each side)
- Place both halves in slow cooker on high.
- Deglaze the pan with 2 cups of water, be sure to scrape up all the brown yummy bits on the bottom of the pan. Then pour it into the slow cooker.
- Let it cook on high for 2 hours.
- Then add rosemary and thyme and 2 cups of water.
- Add chopped onion, carrots, and potatoes to the slow cooker.
- Continue cooking for 2 hours.
- Remove the meat from the slow cooker and slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. It should be very tender. Then add it back to slow cooker.
- Serve over quinoa or rice.