“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. ”
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
- 500 g 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.
Source: Jamie Oliver
