Try this delicious pork recipe as an alternative to the traditional Christmas turkey. Ideally, ask your butcher for a pork loin joint with the belly attached and ask for the rind to be left on and scored.
Celebration Roast Pork With Cranberry And Apricot Stuffing
02 December 2019
Category
Main
Serves
10
Preperation Time
1 hour approx
Cooking Time
3 - 3.5 hours
Ingredients
3 to 3.5kg piece pork belly and loin joint
rind on and scored
125g dried apricots
100g dried cranberries
Fresh breadcrumbs
100g cooked chestnuts (you can buy these ready to use in a pouch)
chopped
3 handfuls fresh chopped herbs – parsley
sage
rosemary and thyme
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
100g butter
melted
3 or 4 long shallots
halved
or 2 onions
quartered
5 long carrots
peeled and cut diagonally into large chunks
Potatoes for roasting
A few extra sprigs rosemary and thyme
Instructions
1Take the pork out of the fridge and unwrap it whilst making the stuffing. Chop the apricots and cranberries and place in a heatproof bowl. Pour over enough boiling water to just cover the fruit and allow to soak for 20 minutes. Combine the breadcrumbs, chestnuts and herbs in a large bowl and season well with sea salt and black pepper
2When the fruit is slightly softened, add to the breadcrumbs along with half of the soaking water (keep the rest of the water) and stir, then drizzle the melted butter over the top and mix really well. Leave to stand for another 20 minutes. If necessary, add a little more of the soaking water to make a moist stuffing
3Preheat the oven to 160ºC fan/180ºC conventional/gas 4. Weigh the pork and calculate the cooking time (25 minutes per 450g plus 20 minutes)
4Open out the pork onto a large board, skin side down. Spread the stuffing over the meat then roll back up and tie with string. Rub some fine sea salt into the skin then lift into your Prestige Roaster and Rack, sitting the meat in the rack. Add the onions to the bottom of the tin and pour a small glass of cold water over the onions. Cover loosely with a piece of foil and roast for 1 hour. Some of the stuffing may burst out of the ends of the joint but keep it and serve on the side
5Add the carrot and potatoes to the onions in the base of the tin and drizzle a little oil over the vegetables. Return the roaster to the oven and cook for the remainder of the cooking time minus half an hour. Turn the vegetables occasionally to coat in the cooking juices
6When there is half an hour left to cook the meat, turn up the oven to very hot (about 220 fan/240/gas 9) and uncover the meat to allow it crisp up and make crackling. Once it’s ready, remove from the oven and leave the meat to rest for 20 minutes and keep the vegetables warm whilst you get everything else ready.