Description
A good pork roast with crackling is one of those meals that fills the kitchen with the best smell imaginable. This one roasts over onions and carrots with apple cider, giving you crisp skin and a rich pan gravy that practically makes itself.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Pork
- 3.3 lb = 1.5 kg pork loin roast, skin on
- White vinegar, for drying the skin
Spice rub
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- Pinch ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- Black peppercorns, to taste
- Coarse salt, to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Roasting
- 2 onions, sliced
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 1 1/4 cups apple cider or chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425⁰F (220⁰C).
- Pat the 1.5 kg pork loin roast dry really well with paper towels.
- Dry skin is the secret to good crackling.
- Using a sharp knife, score the skin and fat in thin lines without cutting into the meat.
- Dab the skin with white vinegar using a paper towel and let it air dry for a few minutes.
- In a mortar and pestle, grind together 2 chopped garlic cloves, a pinch of ground cloves, ½ tsp caraway seeds, 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp dried chili flakes, 1 tbsp dried thyme, black peppercorns to taste, and coarse salt to taste until fragrant.
- Add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp lemon juice, and stir until it becomes a loose paste.
- Rub this mixture all over the pork, pressing it into the meat side and along the scored edges. Try to keep most of the paste off the skin so it stays dry and crisps properly.
- Let the roast sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.
- Scatter 2 sliced onions and 4 sliced carrots in the bottom of a roasting pan. They act like a natural rack and add flavour to the pan juices.
- Place the pork roast on top, skin side up.
- Cover the roasting pan with a lid and roast in the preheated oven at 425⁰F (220⁰C) for 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 340⁰F (170⁰C).
- Pour 1¼ cups of apple cider or chicken stock into the roasting pan around the vegetables.
- Remove the lid and continue roasting for about 1 hour, or until the pork is cooked through and the juices run clear when pierced.
- If the crackling needs more colour, raise the oven back to 425⁰F (220⁰C) and roast for another 5 to 7 minutes until the skin bubbles and crisps.
- Keep an eye on it here, it can go from perfect to too dark in seconds.
- Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest uncovered for 20 minutes before slicing.
- While it rests, skim excess fat from the roasting pan juices, taste, and adjust seasoning with salt or pepper if needed.
- The onions, carrots, and cider will have created a simple but really tasty gravy.
- Slice the pork and serve with the vegetables and pan gravy spooned over top.
Notes
Created, prepared, tried, and tested Gail
