When you’re looking for the perfect, hearty and warming lunch or dinner, where both the meat and the side dish are prepared in a single dish without unnecessary dirtying of pots and pans, long hours spent over several pots are simply a thing of the past. Forget boring quick meals – this grand baking dish with marinated pork neck, thinly sliced potatoes, crispy bacon, red onion, cream and melted mozzarella is absolutely top notch, and will disappear from the table in no time. The secret to success lies in marinating the meat ahead of time, quickly searing it in a pan, and thoroughly baking the potatoes under a creamy blanket.
What you’ll need for a large baking dish:
For the main meat component:
- Pork neck: 4 slices (each weighing about 150 to 200 g, ideally with fine marbling of fat)
- Vegetable oil: 2 tablespoons (for the marinade) + a little for searing the meat
- Spices for the marinade: 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1/2 teaspoon crushed caraway, 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic (or 1 fresh pressed clove)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper: to taste
For the rich potato mixture for the baking dish:
- Potatoes: 800 g to 1 kg (peeled and sliced thinly)
- English bacon: 100 g (cut into small cubes)
- Garlic: 2 cloves (finely chopped)
- Red onion: 1 medium piece (finely chopped or thinly sliced into half-moons)
- Mozzarella: 100 g (cubed or torn, can be replaced with Edam cheese)
- Whipping cream (min. 30%): 200 ml
- Salt and pepper: to season the potato mixture
Step-by-step preparation:
1. Marinating the pork neck: Wash the pork neck slices, pat dry and gently flatten them with your palm or the smooth side of a meat mallet. In a bowl, mix vegetable oil, sweet paprika, crushed caraway, dried garlic, salt and pepper. Thoroughly coat the prepared meat in the marinade on all sides and let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
2. Preparing the bacon and onion base: In a small pan, dry-fry the diced English bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside (save a few pieces for final garnish) and leave about 1 tablespoon of rendered fat in the pan. On this fat, sauté the chopped garlic and red onion over medium heat until golden.
3. Mixing the creamy potatoes: In a large bowl, pile the thinly sliced potatoes. Add the crispy fried bacon, sautéed onion and garlic, mozzarella cubes and pour in 200 ml of whipping cream. Season everything with salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly so the cream and cheese coat every slice of potato.
4. Layering in the baking dish and searing the meat: Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Evenly spread the prepared potato mixture on the bottom of the baking dish. In another pan, heat a little oil and quickly sear the marinated pork neck slices on both sides until golden (about 2 to 3 minutes per side) – this gives the meat color and seals it, so it stays perfectly juicy inside.
5. Baking until tender: Place the seared pork neck slices on top of the potato mixture in the baking dish. Cover the dish tightly with foil or a lid and place in the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 60 to 90 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the meat is tender. Final trick: For the last 15 minutes of baking, remove the foil to beautifully brown the top of the meat and potatoes.
Proven tips for a perfect result:
- The importance of marinating the meat: Leaving the pork neck in the marinade with oil and spices overnight ensures the meat will be incredibly tender and full of flavor after baking.
- Searing in the pan: Briefly searing the slices before baking locks all the juices inside the meat, so the pork neck won’t dry out.
- Creamy potatoes: Using whipping cream combined with mozzarella creates a rich, delicious sauce during baking that perfectly binds the potatoes together.
