Lacón con Grelos

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg salted pork shoulder (lacón), on the bone
• 3 Galician chorizos, about 300 g total
• 1 kg grelos (turnip greens), thick stems removed
• 1 kg waxy potatoes, peeled and halved
• 4 litres water
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, to finish
• Sweet pimentón, to finish

Before you cook

• Soak the lacón in a large container of cold water in a cool place for forty-eight hours, changing the water every eight hours.
• Drain the lacón and rinse it under the tap on the final change.
• Wash the grelos thoroughly and pull off the thick woody stems.
• Peel the potatoes and cut the larger ones in half so all the pieces are similar in size.

Steps

1. Put the desalted lacón into a very large pot, cover it with four litres of cold water and bring it slowly to the boil.
2. Skim the surface carefully for the first ten minutes, then lower the heat so the water barely trembles.
3. Cook the lacón for one hour per kilo, which is about ninety minutes for this piece, keeping it covered.
4. Bring a second pan of water to the boil and blanch the grelos for one minute, then drain them and discard that bitter water.
5. Add the whole chorizos to the lacón pot and cook them for twenty minutes.
6. Add the blanched grelos to the pot and cook everything together for twenty minutes more.
7. Add the potatoes and cook for a final twenty-five minutes, until a knife goes through them cleanly.
8. Lift the lacón out onto a board and let it rest for ten minutes before carving.
9. Carve the meat off the bone in thick slices across the grain and slice the chorizos into rounds.
10. Drain the grelos and potatoes with a slotted spoon and arrange them on a large warm platter.
11. Lay the meat and chorizo over the vegetables and moisten everything with a few ladles of the cooking broth.
12. Finish with a trickle of olive oil and a dusting of sweet pimentón, and serve the remaining broth in cups alongside.