Shin of pork with apples and cinnamon sauce

Pour a generous amount of Carli Pure Olive Oil into a non-stick pan. Heat and add garlic, rosemary, bay leaves, juniper berries and thinly sliced lard.

Salt and brown the lard thoroughly. Remove the lard from the pan and set it to one side with a little of the dripping.

Salt the shin and lay it in the pan. Add some Carli Rossese di Dolceacqua D.O.C. wine and, over a fairly high flame, brown fully for 10 minutes.

Transfer the shin and dripping to a Pyrex or oven-proof dish and place in a pre-heated oven (with fan ventilation). Cook for about one hour, adding wine and water from time to time while occasionally turning the meat over. When finally done, turn the oven off and pour much of the dripping into a cup.

Garnish the shin, and the lard and the dripping saved, with bay leaves and some juniper berries. Wrap the dish in aluminium foil (make sure there is no close contact between the meat and the foil). The dish must be heated in the oven.

Remove the garlic and herbs and then strain the dripping into a shallow pan. Add the apples, peeled and thinly sliced, and the cinnamon stick. Cook over a low flame for 20 minutes in order to produce a thick sauce. Add a little water, according to needs. Then remove the cinnamon stick. After straining and puréeing the apple sauce, pour it into a sauce dish to accompany the shin of pork when served.

Such a flavorsome dish merits an important, robust wine. Our choice is Carli Ormeasco di Pornassio D.O.C., − a lively, dry, slightly tannic ruby red wine, both vigorous and supple to the palate, with a fruity aroma and aftertaste.