Avocado Pulled Pork Sliders

This is one of my favorite sandwich recipes, especially for feeding a large group. Of course, since most of the time it is just me and my husband eating it, it usually becomes a leftover meal that we eat for an entire week. (Probably another reason I like this recipe.) The pulled pork is cooked in a slow cooker, so it's easy to prepare ahead of time and have ready and waiting when you need it. It has a little bit of sweetness from cooking in apple juice, and a little bit of spiciness from the barbecue sauce and chipotle peppers. Finish it off with some cheese and avocados and how can you go wrong? I usually use small dinner rolls as the base for the sandwiches so that they are slider size, mostly so I can feel less guilty about eating 3 of them. (Or 5.)

Avocado Pulled Pork Sliders

Ingredients:

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 lb boneless pork shoulder roast, well trimmed of visible fat

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 1/3 cups apple juice

2/3 cup prepared barbecue sauce

2 T finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

20 small dinner rolls, sliced in half

20 thin slices provolone cheese

4 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

Directions:

1. Up to five days before serving, combine paprika, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Lightly sprinkle 1/2 of the seasoning on the pork roast, reserving the other half. Cover the pork roast and keep refrigerated until cooking time.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place pork roast in pot and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from skillet.

3. Add onion to the skillet and cook until golden brown. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds. Stir in apple juice and reserved paprika seasoning mix from step one. 

4. Add pork roast to a 4-6 quart slow cooker and pour skillet mixture over it. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours or until meat is very tender and falling apart. Remove pork roast from pot and let rest for 5-10 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Strain pot juices into a gravy separator if serving immediately, or if serving later, pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate. 

5. Shred pork roast, removing small amounts of fat as needed; if not serving immediately cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

6. To serve the sliders, remove the post juices from the refrigerator and skim off fat. (Or pour fat-separated sauce from the gravy separator.) Pour into a small pot and bring to a boil. Stir in barbecue sauce and chipotle peppers. Mix enough into the shredded pork meat to make it moist and juicy.

7. To prepare sliders, top the bottom half of a rolls with pulled pork, a slice of cheese and several slices of avocado. 

Recipe Source: Hass Big Game Recipes

Posted in: Main Dish