When my parents gave me a beautiful clay pot last summer, I initially wasn’t sure what I would use it for. It’s fantastic for baking no-knead bread, but what I discovered turned out to be so commonplace that I didn’t post about it here for months–even though it might just be my favorite meal–because I figured everyone already knows about roasts.

Since summer, my partner and I have been making a roast every week or two. It’s insanely delicious, and the easiest thing in the world. I’m in love. With slow-cooked meat. After months of this, I think we’ve got our technique down, and I want to share it with you (finally).

We usually start with a pork shoulder, but any big, fatty cut will turn out great. We soak the meat in slightly salted water for about 15 minutes while we prep the veggies for the roast. Since we use the clay pot, we soak that, too–but you could just as easily use any dutch oven or roasting pot with a lid.

Note: None of these pictures show the clay pot with its lid on, because, obviously, I wanted to show you what’s inside. But we keep the lid during the whole roasting time, unless it looks like it might overflow, then we remove the lid briefly (15-20 mins.) to let some of the juices evaporate.

The veggies are up to your personal taste, too, of course. We like to use root vegetables–carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes–and plenty of whole garlic cloves and whole shallots or pearl onions.

Usually I then make up a paste that I’ll use to coat the meat before popping it in the oven. After slow-cooking, though, the flavors are a lot less evident, so you can skip this if you’re short on time. Here’s what I usually mix up:

3 Tsp. brown mustard
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried sage or oregano
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or chopped
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt

You can add whatever you have on hand, though.

We place all the veggies in the clay pot, coat the meat with the seasoning mixture, put the lid on the pot and place it in a cold oven. Clay cracks when subjected to quick temperature changes, so if you’re using a clay pot do not preheat the oven until you place the clay pot inside.

With the meat in the oven, preheat to 385F and set the timer for 1 hr.

After an hour, the meat will be browned on top and may have started to release some of its juices. Flip the meat over, and set the timer for another 1 hr.

I like to cook the meat for 2-1/2 hrs., and with 30 mins. remaining, I add two chopped apples to the pot. If you add them sooner, the apples will process completely–you won’t be able to taste them at all. Here’s how my roast looks after 2 hours, just after adding the apples:

And here’s how it looks, finished:

The meat is cooked through, and because the pot retains so much moisture, it’s super juicy and delicious. It’s hard to take any credit for what happens inside the clay pot in 2-1/2 hours, but it’s so easy to enjoy.