1. Season pork generously with salt and pepper.

2. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat; cook pork, turning, until browned all over. Transfer to a 4.5-litre (18-cup) slow cooker; top pork with prunes.

3. Heat remaining oil in the same frying pan over medium heat; cook onion and thyme, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Stir in garlic; cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.

4. Add port and stock to pan, stirring to combine; bring to the boil. Pour mixture over pork in the cooker. Cook, covered, on low, for 8 hours.

5. Carefully remove pork and half the prunes (preferably any whole ones); cover to keep warm. Strain cooking liquid into a large bowl; reserve solids, but discard thyme. Blend or process solids until smooth. Stir pureed onion mixture into cooking liquid until sauce thickens (you may not need to use all the onion mixture).

6. Serve sliced pork with prunes; drizzle with sauce and top with extra thyme sprigs.

Notes: Adding the prunes to the cooker on top of the pork means they will have a better chance of staying whole as they’re not squashed under the pork. You could use a tawny or ruby port in this recipe. Sherry will add a different flavour, but would also work well.