Festive Pork Roast Recipes

PORK ROAST WITH CRISPY PORK CRACKLING

Steps:

• Dry skin: Pat the skin dry with paper towels. If time permits, leave in the fridge uncovered overnight (even 1 hr helps). If not, pat extra well.
• Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
• Season flesh: Sprinkle pork flesh with 1 1/2 tsp salt, all the pepper and all fennel seeds and 1 tbsp olive oil. Rub into flesh, right into all the crevices and cracks.
• Salt skin: Flip pork, drizzle skin with 1 tsp oil, then rub all over with fingers. Sprinkle all over with remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt, taking care to get even coverage. Un-salted patches will not become bubbly crackling, it will be a hard flat sheet.
• Garlic & onion bed: Place halved garlic bulbs and onion in roasting pan. Place pork skin side up on top of them.
• Wine: Carefully pour wine into the pan, being sure not to wet the skin. Transfer to oven.
• Lower oven: Immediately turn oven down to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan).
• Slow roast: Roast for 2 1/2 hours.
• Level at 1 1/2 hours: Check pork after 1 1/2 hours to see if the pork is warped and the skin's overall surface is significantly unlevelled. If so, adjust to make the skin surface as level as possible using balls of foil and moving large dislodged pork pieces to the side (key tip for crispy crackling, Note 3). Then return to oven for the remaining 1 hour.
• Check pan & salt on skin: If pan is drying out, add some water. If there are bald patches on the skin without salt (eg it fell off), spray lightly with oil spray (or brush lightly with oil) then sprinkle with salt. (Remember, salt = bubbly skin!)
• Increase heat: Turn oven up to 250°C/485°F (all oven types), or as high as it will go if your oven won't go this high.
• Make skin crisp: Return pork to oven for 30 minutes, rotating pan as needed, until skin is crisp and bubbly all over. If needed, use foil patches, secured with water soaked toothpicks, to cover parts that are done and keep crisping up remaining patches.
• Rest: Transfer pork to serving platter, tent loosely with foil (don't worry, crackling stays super-crisp) and rest for 20 minutes (stays warm up to 1 hour). Then slice using a serrated knife.
• Serve with gravy. Don't pour gravy over crackling - pour it off to the side! See note for reheating.

CHRISTMAS PORK TENDERLOIN

Steps:

• Pulse garlic, pepper, allspice, salt, brown sugar, 3 Tbsp. rosemary leaves, and 2 Tbsp. oil in a food processor until a paste forms. Alternatively, finely chop garlic and 3 Tbsp. rosemary leaves and transfer to a small bowl; stir in pepper, allspice, salt, brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp. oil.
• Rub garlic paste all over pork. Let sit at least 30 minutes, or cover and chill up to overnight.
• Arrange a rack in top third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Wrap each tenderloin in bacon, working in a spiral from top to bottom and letting each layer overlap slightly, until completely covered (about 5 bacon slices per tenderloin). Secure any exposed bacon slice ends with toothpicks.
• Arrange 6 rosemary sprigs on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange pork over. Brush tops of tenderloins with oil. Roast pork until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 140°F for medium-rare (about 20 minutes) or 145° for medium, (about 25 minutes). Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with cranberry sauce alongside, if using.
• Do Ahead
• Pork can be rubbed 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

PORCHETTA PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Score skin and fat all over pork, taking care not to cut down to the meat.
• In a food processor or mortar and pestle, combine fennel fronds, rosemary, sage, garlic, lemon zest, salt, fennel seed, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Pour in oil. Pulse or mash until it forms a paste. Rub all over pork. If using a boneless roast, tie with kitchen string at 2-inch intervals. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 6 hours and preferably overnight.
• Remove pork from refrigerator 1 to 2 hours before you want to cook it. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Transfer pork to a rimmed baking sheet and roast 35 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and cook an additional 2 hours 45 minutes to 4 hours, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 180 degrees, which will give you sliceable, tender meat. (Bone-in roasts will take longer than boneless ones.)
• Transfer pork to a cutting board and let rest 15 to 30 minutes before serving. Make sure everyone gets some of the cracklings.

CHRISTMAS PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place pork roast into a roasting pan; push whole cloves into the meat. Cover the roast with apple slices.
• Mash cranberry sauce in a bowl with a potato masher; stir chicken broth, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger into cranberries. Pour about half the cranberry mixture over the pork roast. Cover with a lid or a sheet of aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Pour remaining cranberry mixture over roast. Sprinkle orange zest over the cranberry sauce.
• Return to oven and roast until cranberry mixture forms a glaze and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the center of the meat reads at least 145 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 30 more minutes.

ROAST PORK LOIN AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk 1/4 cup oil, garlic, butter, sage and rosemary in small bowl to blend. Place pork in large roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub herb mixture over pork. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Cover pork loosely with foil and roast 2 hours.
• Divide remaining 1/4 cup oil between 2 heavy large skillets. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Divide potatoes between skillets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until potatoes are golden but not tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer potatoes to roasting pan with pork. Toss potatoes with pan juices. Continue roasting, uncovered, until pork browns, potatoes are tender and juices are slightly reduced, about 40 minutes.
• Place pork in center of large platter. Surround with potatoes. Pour pan juices into 2-cup glass measuring cup. Spoon fat off top of juices and discard. Pour juices over pork and potatoes.

PORCHETTA-STYLE ROAST PORK

Steps:

• Stir fennel seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until slightly darker in color and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer seeds to spice mill and cool. Add kosher salt, peppercorns, and dried crushed red pepper. Grind to medium-fine consistency (not powder).
• Place pork in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Rub garlic all over pork, then coat with spice mixture. Loosely cover pork with waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush large rimmed baking sheet with oil. Place roast, fat side up and coating intact, in center of sheet. Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons oil. Roast pork 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Roast pork until very tender and thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 190°F, about 3 hours 15 minutes longer. Transfer pork to cutting board; reserve baking sheet. Let pork rest 15 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour all pan juices into 2-cup measuring cup. Spoon off fat that rises to top. Place reserved baking sheet across 2 burners. Pour wine and broth onto baking sheet and bring to boil over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits. Boil until wine mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 4 minutes. Add degreased pan juices and whisk to blend. Pour pan sauce into small bowl (sauce will be thin).
• Thinly slice roast. Serve with sauce.

FESTIVE PORK ROAST

Steps:

• 1. Marinade: mix wine, sugar, 3 Tbsp. water, vinegar, catsup, oil, soy sauce, garlic, curry powder, ginger, pepper.
• 2. Untie rolled roast and trim fat. Reroll roast. Place meat in plastic bag. Set in shallow dish. Pour marinade into bag and close
• 3. Marinate in refrigerator 6 to 8 hours or overnight, turning bag several times.
• 4. Drain meat. Reserve 1 cup marinade. Place meat in a 325 oven about 2 hours or til meat thermometer reads 160. In a small pan, mix 1/4 cup water an cornstarch. Add marinade. Cook 1 or 2 minutes. Brush roast with marinade. Roast 1 hour more. Brush frequently.

FESTIVE PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large shallow dish or a heavy-duty plastic zip-lock freezer bag; add pork.
• Cover or seal and refrigerate 8 hours, turning occasionally.
• Note: you may need to divided the marinade between two zip-lock freezer bags and put one roast in each bag.
• Remove pork from marinade (reserve marinade and add water, if necessary to equal 2 1/2 cups).
• Place pork on a rack in a roasting pan lined with foil.
• In a small saucepan, whisk reserved marinade and cornstarch; place pan over med-high heat.
• Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
• Cook, whisking constantly, 2-3 minutes or until thickened.
• Remove and reserve 1/4 sauce; set remaining sauce in saucepan aside.
• Broil pork 6 inches from heat for 5 minutes.
• Pour 1 1/2 cups water into pan.
• Lower oven temperature to 325°; bake 1 hour and 30 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 155°, basting with reserved 1/4 cup sauce during the last 15 minutes.
• Remove roast and let stand 10 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 160°.
• Serve with remaining warm sauce.