When you crave an honest, fragrant and perfectly juicy lunch that will fill your kitchen with delicious aromas, there’s no need to spend hours at the stove. Forget about dried-out slices of meat – this hidden pork neck under a potato blanket, with a generous layer of onion, smoked bacon and whipping cream is an absolute delicacy that will disappear from the baking dish in no time. The secret to success lies in quickly searing the meat in lard, thoroughly drying the potato slices, and slow baking under a lid with cream.
What you’ll need for a baking tray or dish:
For the meat base:
- Boneless pork neck: 4 slices (about 1 cm thick)
- Lard: 1 tablespoon (for searing the meat)
- Seasoning: Salt and ground black pepper to taste
For the rich potato blanket:
- Potatoes: 8 medium-sized (ideally type B or C for boiling)
- Onion: 2 large pieces (sliced into half-moons or “C” shapes)
- Smoked bacon: 100 g (Šabatecká or other quality smoked bacon)
- Crushed caraway seeds: for sprinkling over the potatoes
- Salt: to season the top layer
For the creamy topping:
- Whipping cream (33%): 1 cup (250 ml)
Step-by-step preparation instructions:
1. Searing the meat: Do not tenderize the pork neck slices with a mallet to keep all the juices inside. Simply season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a tablespoon of lard in a pan and quickly sear the meat on both sides (just 2 minutes is enough) so the surface is nicely sealed. Transfer the seared pork neck to a baking dish, arranging the slices side by side.
2. Preparing the potatoes and onion: Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices about half a centimeter thick. Important cooking tip: Carefully dry the potato slices with a paper towel so they don’t steam in excess water in the baking dish, but instead roast nicely and soak up the cream. Slice the onion into half-moons.
3. Layering: On each slice of meat in the baking dish, place a generous layer of onion (about half an onion per portion). Lay slices of smoked bacon on top of the onion and finally “hide” everything under a layer of sliced potatoes (about two potatoes per portion, slightly overlapping).
4. Baking with cream in the oven: Pour 250 ml of whipping cream evenly over the entire contents of the baking dish. Salt the top layer of potatoes and generously sprinkle with crushed caraway seeds. Cover the baking dish tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 40 minutes. Then remove the lid, lower the oven temperature to 170°C and bake for another 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the cream has reduced into a thick sauce.
Practical cooking tips for the best result:
- Why not to tenderize the meat: Skipping the tenderizing step keeps all the juices inside the pork neck, making it incredibly tender after baking.
- Drying the potato slices: Removing surface moisture from the potatoes with a paper towel ensures the blanket gets the right texture and doesn’t release too much water into the dish.
- The combination of cream and bacon: The juices from the smoked bacon blend with the whipping cream during baking, creating an absolutely divine sauce.
Enjoy your meal!
