Roast Pork, Perry and Pears
Preparation and Cooking Time: 2hrs
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp rosemary leaves
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1.5kg rolled leg or loin of pork, scored
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions
- 4 Beurre Bosc pears
- 250ml Perry, we recommend ‘Eighty 4’ by Paracombe Premium Perry
Instructions
- Set the oven at 220C. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and crush them with the sea salt and peppercorns using a pestle and mortar. When you have a sand-like mixture, pour in three tablespoons of the olive oil to make a paste.
- Put the meat in a roasting tin and massage the rosemary paste into its skin and cut edges. Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200C and continue to roast for 25 minutes per 500g.
- While the pork is roasting, peel the onions and chop them roughly. Let them cook with the remaining oil in a shallow pan over a moderate heat until soft and palest gold. Peel and quarter the pears (to keep them from browning add a little lemon juice). Add the onions and pears to the roasting tin after the pork has been cooking at the lower temperature for 25 minutes, basting the pears with any pan juices.
- When the pork is ready, remove it from the oven and let it rest in a warm place with the pears, lightly covered with foil (a tight covering will make the crackling soften). Put the roasting tin over a moderate heat, add the perry and boil the juices until reduced to about 200ml or so. They won’t thicken, but you just want to concentrate the flavour a little. Adjust the seasoning. Serve the pork in thin slices, together with chunks of its crackling, pears and the pan juices.
Recipe adapted from telegraph.co.uk