1 hr 30 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 8
About the recipe
This recipe for pork is great. You can serve it as a conventional roast, or let it cool and either serve it as part of a buffet, or in sandwiches as they do in Italy. On my first trip there we stopped at a caravan by the side of the road where we had lovely big porchetta (pork sandwiches) filled with salad leaves, mustard and some very bready salsa verde.
If you're feeling adventurous then try out this recipe using a whole suckling pig. It's one of the most special things you can cook – great for weddings and parties. Good butchers will normally be able to get hold of a suckling pig if you order in advance. If you do decide to use a suckling pig, then double the stuffing recipe, stuff the cavity, secure it and allow it a couple of extra hours to cook. It will be ready when the leg and shoulder meat falls off the bone.
Ingredients
½ a higher-welfare pork loin (preferably the rib end), skin on, bone out
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 heaped tablespoons fennel seeds
500g sourdough or rustic bread
2 red onions
3 cloves of garlic
a few sprigs of fresh sage
olive oil
1 handful of pine nuts
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
- Score the pork skin with a sharp knife at 1cm intervals, and roughly 1cm deep.
- Pick the rosemary leaves into a pestle and mortar, add the fennel seeds and 1 tablespoon of sea salt, then bash to a dry paste. Massage into the score marks on the pork.
- Slice up the bread, and toast until golden. Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the onions and garlic, and pick and roughly tear the sage leaves.
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a pan over a medium heat, add the onions, garlic, sage and pine nuts and cook for 10 minutes, or until sweet and soft.
- Season with salt and black pepper, add the balsamic vinegar, then transfer the mixture to a bowl.
- Rip the toasted bread into the bowl, then scrunch everything together really well. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Leave to cool.
- Insert a knife into the eye meat of the pork loin and make a pocket for the stuffing.
- Pack in the stuffing, then roll the pork over and tie it with butcher's string to secure.
- Place the pork in a roasting tray and roast for 1 hour, or until golden, crisp and perfectly cooked.
Tags