Stuffed Roast Pork Loin with Sage and Onion

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp carving knife
• •Kitchen string
• •Roasting tin with a rack
• •Meat thermometer (useful but not essential)
• •Heavy-bottomed frying pan for the stuffing

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the stuffing

   Melt the butter in a wide pan over a low heat. Add the sliced onions and a good pinch of salt. Stir them through the butter, turn the heat right down, and let them cook gently for twenty-five to thirty minutes, stirring now and then, until they've gone from sharp and white to something soft, golden, and sweet. This isn't a step to rush. If they start to catch, add a splash of water and lower the heat. When they smell like a Sunday roast, they're done. Stir in the chopped sage for the last couple of minutes so it releases its oils into the warm onion. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for ten minutes. Stir through the breadcrumbs and the egg yolk, season well with pepper, and taste it. The stuffing should be savoury, fragrant, and slightly sticky. Adjust the salt.

   Stale bread makes the best breadcrumbs here. Tear a day-old loaf and pulse it briefly. You want texture, not dust.
2. 2

   Butterfly the loin

   Lay the pork loin on a board, skin side down. With a sharp knife, cut horizontally into the thickest part of the meat, slicing about two-thirds of the way through, then open it out like a book. You're creating a wider, flatter surface to hold the stuffing. If the meat is uneven, lay a sheet of cling film over it and give it a few firm taps with a rolling pin to even it out. Don't batter it thin. You want it about two centimetres thick throughout.

   Ask your butcher to butterfly and score the loin if you'd rather not do it yourself. A good butcher will tie it for you, too, if you bring the stuffing. No shame in that.
3. 3

   Stuff and roll

   Season the opened-out meat with salt and pepper. Spread the cooled stuffing over the surface in an even layer, leaving a border of a couple of centimetres around the edges. Starting from one long side, roll the loin up firmly, tucking the stuffing in as you go. It doesn't have to be perfect. Tie the roll at regular intervals with kitchen string, about every three centimetres, snug but not so tight that the stuffing squeezes out. Tuck in any escapees. It should look like a solid, generous log.

4. 4

   Dry and season the skin

   Pat the skin completely dry with kitchen paper. This matters more than anything else you'll do today. Wet skin won't crackle. Rub the scored skin generously with olive oil, then with fine sea salt, working it into the cuts with your fingers. Be generous. More than you think. Set the rolled loin on a rack in a roasting tin, skin side up, and leave it uncovered in the fridge for an hour if you have the time. Cold, dry air is the friend of good crackling.

   If you can leave the pork uncovered in the fridge overnight, the skin will dry out properly and your crackling will be all the better for it. Plan ahead if you can.
5. 5

   Roast the pork

   Heat the oven to 230C/210C fan. Put the pork in and roast at this high heat for twenty-five minutes. The skin should be starting to blister and crackle. Then turn the oven down to 180C/160C fan and continue roasting for about an hour, maybe a little more. The pork is done when the juices run clear if you push a skewer into the thickest part, and the internal temperature reads 65C if you have a probe. The crackling should be golden, blistered, and hard to the tap of a wooden spoon. If the crackling isn't there yet but the meat is done, take the loin out, slice off the skin in one piece, and put it back under a hot grill for a few minutes. Watch it like a hawk.

6. 6

   Rest and carve

   Rest the pork on a warm board, loosely covered with foil, for fifteen to twenty minutes. This isn't optional. The meat needs time to relax, and the juices need to settle back through the flesh rather than running out onto the board the moment you cut. While it rests, pour off the fat from the roasting tin, set the tin over a medium heat, and deglaze with a splash of cider or stock, scraping up the sticky bits from the bottom. Let it bubble down to something concentrated and savoury. Strain it into a warm jug. Remove the string, carve the loin into thick slices so each round shows the spiral of stuffing inside, and bring it to the table with the pan juices alongside.

Chef Tips

• •Get the pork from a proper butcher if you can, and ask for outdoor-reared or free-range. The flavour of a well-raised pig is noticeably different, particularly in a simple roast where there's nothing to mask the meat. Tell the butcher what you're doing and ask them to score the skin for you. Those parallel cuts, close together, are easier done with a Stanley knife than a kitchen one.
• •The stuffing can be as herby as you like. Sage is the heart of it, but a few thyme leaves or a grating of lemon zest won't do any harm. Trust your nose. If it smells right when it's raw, it'll taste right when it's cooked.
• •Crackling is about patience and dryness. If you do nothing else, dry the skin thoroughly and salt it well. A damp skin will never crackle properly, no matter how hot your oven is. The overnight rest in the fridge, uncovered, makes a genuine difference.
• •Serve this with something simple. Roasted roots, braised red cabbage, a dish of applesauce made with Bramleys from the garden. The pork is the centrepiece. Let it be.

Advance Preparation

• •The stuffing can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to room temperature before spreading it on the meat.
• •The pork can be stuffed, rolled, and tied up to a day in advance. Keep it uncovered in the fridge, which has the added benefit of drying the skin for better crackling.
• •Pan juices can be made while the pork rests and kept warm in a jug. They don't wait well for longer than twenty minutes, so time this to the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)