Smoked pork roast with smoked beer sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg Kasseler neck
• 2 onions
• 1 carrot(s)
• 60 g celeriac
• 60 g leek
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 500 ml beer (smoked beer – preferably Schlenkerla Märzen)
• 500 ml beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp, heaped caraway seeds
• Clarified butter
• black pepper, freshly ground
• Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 45 minutes

Peel and dice the onions, carrot, and celery. Wash the leek and slice into rings. Brown the smoked pork neck in a little clarified butter in a pot and set aside. Reduce the heat to low and let the onions, carrot, and celery brown slightly. Add the leek. Shortly after, increase the heat and fry the tomato paste. Deglaze with half of the beer, allow it to evaporate completely, and repeat the process. Pour in the stock and loosen any juices. Add the bay leaf, caraway seeds, and a little pepper. Return the meat to the pan and braise for 2 hours over low heat with the lid closed, turning halfway through. Remove the roast. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, squeezing out the vegetables well. Season to taste with salt and more pepper if desired. Slice the roast and heat in the sauce with the lid closed. Finally, serve the meat with the sauce and the side dishes. Potato dumplings and sauerkraut or coleslaw are good side dishes. If smoked beer isn’t available, another dark beer can be substituted.