Roast pork with figs and roasted potatoes

It's also a time to remember literary giants who have shaped Ljubljana, honoring February 8th, which is a unique holiday on a global scale. And there's no more quintessential Slovenian dish than Sunday roast. For February 8th, Prešeren's Day, it's also a tribute to sweet wine, which enlivens our veins... as well as figs, which Dohtar liked to share with the kids. In the winter months, dried figs are available among the dried fruits at the Ljubljana market - that's when they're the best.

INGREDIENTS

• 800 g pork ribs (pork loin)
• olive oil
• salt, pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 8-10 beautiful, golden dried figs
• 2 dl sweet wine
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 1 star anise

PREPARATION METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Season the beautiful, symmetrical piece of pork loin with salt and pepper. In a large shallow cast-iron pot, pour olive oil and sear the meat on all sides, including the cut side, until golden brown.

Peel the onion and cut it into quarters, scrape the carrots and cut them into 2 cm pieces. Place the figs in a bowl and pour sweet wine over them.

Remove the meat from the pot and add the onion and carrot. Sauté quickly, then add the figs and wine. Bring to a quick boil to deglaze everything that has stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the meat, cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves, and push into the oven. Bake for one hour. At the beginning of baking, cover with aluminum foil, and after half an hour, uncover: be careful not to burn the figs and vegetables; ideally, there should be a thin film of sweet sauce at the bottom, and the figs should swell and begin to caramelize.