Slow Cooker Roast Pork with Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

October 8, 2014

Before we get to the recipe for slow cooker apple roast pork, I just have to share how beyond EXCITED I am for my first guest post! Many thanks go out to Paula and Meg for having me here today!

I’m Lizzi and I blog over at Relish The Scoop. I started my blog as a place to share my love of food and to provide a platform for me to speak out about mental health awareness. As someone with anxiety and depression, I know how lonely it can feel to be struggling with mental illness. My dream is to build a community that gathers together to enjoy great food, learn fun facts about food, and be a support group to lean on during our struggles. It is such an honor to share that message here today. If you want to talk with me about mental health (or anything else for that matter), hop on over to my page and shoot me an email. I’ll be glad to chat!

On to the main event!

When developing this recipe I really wanted to create an apple roast pork that was a one pot meal that could be made in the slow cooker. When I think roast, I can’t help but automatically pair it with potatoes and carrots, but for this meal, I really wanted something that permeated with the essence of fall. Apple roast pork with parsnips and sweet potatoes was born.

The pork loin is slow roasted in the slow cooker with apples, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. After it has finished, the drippings and cooked apples are used to make a delicious spiced apple sauce to top the meat. The finished product is a hearty comfort food that is perfect for a fall Sunday dinner.

Slow Cooker Apple Roast Pork with Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 6-8 hours on low

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs pork loin
3-4 small apples, peeled and cut into wedges (I used fuji, use as sweet an apple as you can find)
4 small sweet potatoes, washed and halved
4-6 parsnips, peeled and cut to desired shape
2 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 teaspoon of each)
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons flour (Gluten Free, if necessary)
4 Tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
⅛ teaspoon allspice
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Place apples in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Place pork loin on top of the apples, place a few apples on top of the loin.
Place sweet potatoes on one side of the loin and parsnips on the other.
Salt and pepper the contents of the slow cooker.
Poor water into slow cooker.
Set slow cooker to low and allow to cook for 6-8 hours.
After the roast has finished cooking, carefully remove each component, cover it with foil, and set aside.
Heat a large skillet to medium-high.
Melt butter in skillet.
Sprinkle flour into melted butter and stir until well combined. Cook for a few seconds, when bubbly add drippings and apple from the slow cooker. Be careful it will be very hot.
Add honey, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg to skillet. Stir well.
Continue stirring until sauce thickens.
Plate food as desired and pour sauce over the pork roast.
Serve.