This weekend was a cold one! It was -40 degrees and we weren’t planning on spending much time outside. Therefore, I had some time to prepare a nice dinner for us that actually took very little effort. The only effort needed was for rolling the roast and placing the netting around it, which was actually quite fun.

I wanted to make us a warming wintery dinner to stand up to the chilly outdoors and this recipe fit the bill! We woke up at a reasonable hour to prepare everything, placed it in the slow cooker, went out to do some errands and came back to what I imagine a professional chef’s home would smell like.

I would recommend marinating and rolling/netting the roast the night before to make it even easier. We found it easier to make it the morning of and place the slow cooker on high for 4 hours while we did some errands, however you may find this to be a great weeknight dinner and leave the slow cooker on low for 8 hours while you’re at work.

Whether you’re eating this as a weekend or weeknight dinner, pick up a light-bodied red or a sweet white to pair with the meat.

Ingredients for the herb marinade: 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried thyme,  2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 10-15 cranks fresh cracked pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp olive oil.

Instructions for herb marinade: combine the garlic, basil, thyme, fresh cracked pepper, and salt in a food processor (or crush by hand if you don’t have a food processor). Add the olive oil to the mixture and stir.

Ingredients for slow cooker dinner: elastic meat netting (I ordered mine off Amazon), 1-1.5 lbs pork roast, 1 container brown mushrooms (I used full mushrooms, but you can use slices if you want), 1 bag ‘The Little Potato Company’ mixed potatoes.

Instructions for slow cooker dinner: pour the marinade over the roast (I placed the roast in a baking dish).  Place the marinated roast on a cutting board, roll the roast and wrap with meat netting. I used thumbtacks to hold the netting in place and slipped the rosemary sprigs underneath the netting. Place the potatoes and mushrooms on the bottom of the crock pot, then place the netted roast overtop. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

This recipe, like all slow cooker recipes, is great for weeknights or busy weekends. You can prepare everything the night before (or same day if you have time) and just throw it in the slow cooker.

Once it’s ready, pair it with a your wine of choice of course! I paired our dinner with a lighter red wine, as a full-bodied red would typically overpower the meat. You could also enjoy the classic pairing of Riesling and pork. The sweetness of the Riesling compliments the slight dryness of the pork, however it pairs even better when the roast has apples. Feel free to add some green or McIntosh apples in the mix to sweeten things up. I chose a very light-bodied 2017 Gamay Nouveau from Georges Duboeuf. It has aromas of plum, strawberry and herb with fresh acidity and fruit forward flavours. The juicy finish of the wine compliments the texture and taste of the meat.

I hope this recipe works out as perfectly for you as it did for me!