Oven-cooked pork skewers

In bad weather or when it's not possible to go on a picnic, you can make oven-cooked pork skewers. The meat turns out very juicy, with a slight browning, and differs from what is cooked on a barbecue, except for the absence of the smell of smoke.

The best cut for shashlik is pork neck, but other cuts of meat can also be cooked very deliciously, as long as the pieces have fat marbling. In the proposed recipe, the meat is marinated with onions, spices, and tomatoes, whose natural acidity helps to tenderize the meat fibers. To ensure that the juice dripping from the skewers isn’t wasted and for a complete meal, the skewers with the kebabs are laid over crushed potatoes, which will cook at the same time as the meat.

Yield: 5 servings.

Cooking time: including marinating will take about 4 hours.

Caloric content: 140 kcal per 100 grams of dish.

Ingredients

• pork meat – 750 g;
• onion – 280 g;
• shashlik seasoning – 1.5 tsp;
• salt – 1 tsp or to taste;
• peeled potatoes – 700 g;
• tomato juice with pulp – 150 ml.

Cooking

1. Prepare the ingredients for making oven-cooked pork skewers. Instead of tomato juice, fresh tomatoes can be used, grated on a coarse grater. The peeled potatoes will not cook immediately, so soak them in water to prevent browning, and place in the refrigerator.

2. Cut the meat into cubes slightly smaller than those for regular shashlik (approximately with a side of 4 centimeters).

3. Cut the onion into rather thick half-rings. This size is needed so that the pieces can easily be threaded onto the skewer.

4. Transfer the meat and onion into a wide bowl.

5. Add salt and spices to it. Mix everything and press the onions with your hands to release some juice.

6. Pour the tomato juice into the mixture.

7. Mix again and compact it with your hand.

8. Press everything down with a plate and place it in a cool place for at least 3 hours.

9. Soak the skewers in water for about 15 minutes, so they don’t burn in the oven, which can now be preheated to 190 degrees.

10. Cut the potatoes into fairly small pieces so they can cook in time with the meat. Place them in a greased baking dish and salt.

11. Thread the meat onto wooden skewers, alternating pork with several pieces of onion. A standard skewer holds 5 meat pieces (do not try to fit more, as the skewer may not bear the weight).

12. Add the remaining onion to the dish with the potatoes.

13. If the length of the skewers is not enough to reach the size of the dish and to prevent the skewers from bending under their weight, lay 3 long sticks between the edges of the dish for the wooden skewers with the meat to rest on.

14. Lay the skewers across the auxiliary sticks. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. 5-7 minutes before the end of the cooking time, turn on the grill with airflow, so that the pieces of meat brown better, like on a fire.

The oven-cooked pork skewers are ready. While they are hot, serve them together with the baked potatoes, vegetables, and herbs. The meat has absorbed the fat perfectly, the slight char mimics real shashlik over a fire, and the potatoes have soaked up the meat juice dripping onto them, making them incredibly delicious. Thus, a real picnic can be organized right in a regular kitchen.

Give it a try, enjoy your meal!