158. Pork on rosemary skewers — barbacoa (Spanish recipe)

"Barbacoa" (that's what barbecue is called in Spanish) is the shashlik everyone knows, steeped in Mediterranean aroma. Continuing the theme of Spanish recipes, I made a dish built around rosemary — one of the best-loved herbs in Catalan cooking, which together with garlic and lemon will fill the meat with the delicious flavours of the summer just gone. Photos and the recipe are under the cut.
Cooking time ≈ 3 hours.
Ingredients:

• 500 g pork neck
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 20 stalks of fresh rosemary (≈ 20 g)
• herbs, oregano, coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

First the meat needs to be marinated. You can do this an hour before cooking, but seven or eight hours would be ideal. Cut the beaten meat into small pieces.

Grate the lemon — we need the zest.

Make the marinade: mix the olive oil, the cloves of garlic crushed with the flat of a knife, the lemon zest, the chopped herbs, the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Mix the marinade and the meat, cover with cling film and leave to marinate.

Thread the pieces of meat onto the rosemary sprigs.

Cook them however you like — either over prepared coals or under the grill in the oven, turning them from time to time. Over coals it will take you around 15 minutes, in the oven about forty. That's it — the pork on rosemary skewers is ready.

Bon appétit!

P.S
So the rosemary sprigs don't burn too badly, soak them in water before threading the meat on. You can also add bacon to the meat when making barbacoa, and if you like you can replace the pork with boneless lamb.