Roast pork & crackling with apples, fennel seed, sage, lemon & thyme

Roast pork & crackling with apples, fennel seed, sage, lemon & thyme

Autumn

What are apples without pork? What is pork without crackling? What is a title if not a veneration of a recipe? How do we rate success? Perfect crackling, which is ‘a thing’, relies on the pork skin to be exceptionally dry. Take the pork out of its packaging as soon as you can, thoroughly dry the skin with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel, then leave it uncovered in the bottom of the fridge for at least 24 hours (48 hours would be better). Make sure the skin is scored properly, down through to the fat (of which there should be some) and salt it only as it goes in the oven, not before.

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • about 2kg (4lb 8oz) pork loin, scored and tied
  • 1 red onion, cut into 8–10 wedges
  • 8 small apples, such as Cox’s
  • 2 lemons, sliced into 5mm (¼in) rounds
  • 1 small bunch of sage, leaves picked
  • 8 bay leaves
  • 1 small bunch of thyme
  • handful of fennel fronds, if available
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, lightly bashed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas mark 8, or as hot as your oven will go. Place the pork (with its very dry skin – this is really important as we want it to crackle) on a suitably sized roasting tin. Season all over with salt, then place in the hot oven for 25–30 minutes. Once the crackling is looking good, remove the pork and turn the oven down to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Scatter the red onion wedges over the base of a large, clean ovenproof dish. Carefully lift the pork from the hot roasting tin and set it down on top of the onions.

Place the whole apples around the pork, arrange the lemon slices in between them, scatter over the sage leaves, bay, thyme and fennel tops (if using) and season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the crushed fennel seeds and trickle everything with the olive oil. Place the fragrant pork and apples in the oven and cook for a further 35 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the apples are soft but not collapsing. (It’s worth noting that if the apples look like they are going to collapse, you can take them out of the oven and allow the pork to finish cooking without them.)

Remove the pork dish from the oven and allow the meat to rest in a nice, warm place for 10–15 minutes. Serve everyone a few thick slices of pork, some generous strips of crackling, an apple and some lemony, herby juices.

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