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Fancy a really easy recipe for one on those long early summer evenings served with a beer or as a proper sit down meal? Well, here is one of my husband’s favourite. We have tried and tested it on many occasions, it never goes wrong.

Stuffed Shoulder of Pork

For the stuffi ng
• 4 slices of white bread, crusts removed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, fi nely chopped
• 75g/3oz walnuts, chopped
• 2 tsp small capers
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 5 fresh sage leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large free-range egg

For the pork
• 2kg/5lbs boned pork shoulder
• salt, for rubbing
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8.

For the stuffi ng, cut the bread into small cubes and pulse in a food processor until they form breadcrumbs. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the breadcrumbs and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Stir in the chopped walnuts, capers, lemon juice, lemon zest and chopped sage leaves and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Break the egg into the pan and mix thoroughly to combine with all the stuffi ng ingredients.

For the pork, lay the pork shoulder skin-side down and spread the stuffi ng over the meat. Roll the meat up and tie securely with kitchen string. Score the skin at 2cm/1in intervals with a sharp knife, and rub all over with the salt and olive oil. Place into a roasting tray and roast for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn the heat down to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and roast for a further 1 hour 20 minutes, or until the pork is cooked (the juices should run clear when the pork is pierced at its thickest part with a skewer). Remove the pork from the oven, cover with aluminium foil and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.

A lovely light red wine goes down well or, for the people driving, we now have a local producer of apple juice, that complements this recipe. John Chaplin started his company ‘The Village Orchard’ in Flore, Northamptonshire, and in its fi rst year the juice has received a Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Award and has reached the fi nals in the Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards. Waterloo Cottage Farm now stocks all four types of the apple juice. Well worth trying a bottle!

Having sorted out your stomachs let me update you on Waterloo Cottage Farm. Lambing has now fi nished successfully despite the threat of Schmallenberg virus, a virus that has spread  rom Germany by midges. We have also only one cade lamb this year, he is thriving well and being kept the company of another ewe who lost her lamb.

Over the Easter weekend, we closed the shop and repainted the fl oor in the shop and fi nished off an extension to the fridge. To allow us to hang enough beef to age for 4-5 weeks we desperately needed more space, so we have doubled the fridge space and added an air dried ham room. This is a long-term project; each leg of pork will take 9-12 months to cure in this new room, so watch this space for a tasting session in about a year’s time!

Life on the farm develops quite slowly. We have been breeding with Ginger (an Old Spot/Petrane sow) and a new boar, Warren G (a Petrane). Both Ginger and Warren G arrived as six-week old piglets at the beginning of 2011. Their fi rst offspring have just matured and reached the shop. The pork is absolutely delicious and the muscle defi nition is superb, great for our back bacon. The second litter are about eight weeks old now and looking just as promising for the start of next year. Nothing happens at speed, it is a slow process…

The team in the shop continues with Tom as our full-time butcher. He is joined by three experienced part-time butchers, John, Bob and Peter, who are guiding both Tom and I in the complex job of running an old-fashioned artisan butchers shop. Harry joined us as an apprentice in March; he has decided to change from his previous career as a tree surgeon. His training is about to start.

We now sell locally produced seasonable vegetables, not a huge selection, just enough to make a complete meal. Milk, cream and bread are brought in fresh from the surrounding area, so please do stop in as you travel along the A508 between Market Harborough and Northampton. We will be offering a variety of BBQ and summer picnic packs throughout the summer. Pick up and go for that lovely summer picnic!

Enjoy your summer,
Kirsty Clarke

We are now open:
Weekdays 8am-6pm
Saturday 8am-4pm • Sunday 10am-1pm
Waterloo Cottage Farm
34, Harborough Road,
Great Oxendon, LE16 8NA
Tel: 01858 467158
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.