Cooking Notes: plus resting
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Total Time:
2 hrs 40 mins
- Large handful curly parsley
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp. fennel seeds
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 8-rib pork rack around 2 kg (around 2kg/4 1/2lb) - ask your butcher to scrape the fat off the bones for you
- 1 medium onion, sliced thickly into rings
- Sea salt for sprinkling, plus string for tying the joint for the gravy
- 1 Tbsp. plain flour
- 200 ml (7fl oz) cider
- 500 ml (17fl oz) hot chicken stock
- 1 Tbsp. quince or redcurrant jelly
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 240°C (220°C fan) mark 9. Put the parsley, garlic, lemon zest, fennel seeds, bay leaf and 2tbsp oil into a food processor and whiz together to make a rough paste.
- Step 2
Remove the butcher's string from the pork and, with a sharp knife, carefully cut away the rind in one piece, leaving behind the fat on the meat. Set aside. Rub the fennel paste over the fat, then replace the rind. Tie in place with six to eight pieces of string. Weigh and calculate the cooking time, allowing 25min per 450g (1lb).
- Step 3
Keeping the onion rings intact, arrange them in the base of a roasting dish just large enough to hold the meat. Put the pork on top. Rub the rind with the remaining oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Roast for 30min, then turn down the temperature to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Continue cooking for the calculated time until the juices run clear when you pierce the meat with a knife, or until the internal temperature measures 70°C. Put the pork on a board, cover loosely with foil and set aside to rest - the meat will keep warm happily for up to an hour.
- Step 4
Discard the onion from the roasting pan. Tip away all but 1tbsp of the fat and put the pan on the hob over a medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and stir, scraping up all the meaty bits stuck to the bottom - they contain lots of flavour. Take off the heat and slowly blend in the cider. Return to the heat and bubble for 2min, then add the stock. Simmer for 15min.
- Step 5
Stir in the jelly, mustard and any meat juices from the resting pork, then strain and check the seasoning. Pour into a warmed jug. Slice and serve the joint (see carving know-how below).
- Step 6
Carving know-how: To serve the pork as individual chops, remove the string and slice between the bones with the crackling still attached. If you prefer thinner slices, remove the crackling, then break into smaller pieces. Cut away the ribs attached to the meat, then slice the meat thinly and serve with the pieces of crackling.
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Per Serving:
- Calories: 320
- Protein: 26g
- Total carbs: 5 g
- Sugars: 3 g
- Total fat: 21g
- Saturated fat: 7g
- Fibre: 0.5g
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
