Roast Pork with Baked Apple

Roast Pork

Pork is one of the most popular meats with the Danes. Ham is traditionally served for a Christmas meal in Sweden and Norway.

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6-8 Portions
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Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 1/2- 2 hours

Ingredients

Roast Pork

  • 2-2.5kg boned leg or rolled lion of pork
  • 1 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary
  • maldon slat and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 onions, peeled and quartered
  • 350ml white wine

Baked Apples

  • 6 firm apples eg granny smiths, peeled, de cored and sliced in half
  • juice of 1/4 lemon
  • 2 tbsp butter

To Serve

  • Hasselback (see recipe) or Roast potatoes
  • green vegetables of your choice

Method

  1. Pork: Score the pork fat into deep diamond cuts but not all the way down to the skin or you will end up with dry meat. Make incisions into the meat randomly all over with a thin sharp knife. Place garlic slices and rosemary leaves in the incisions. Rub plenty of salt into the skin massaging it in well as this will help crisp up the skin. Season the pork with a little freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate the meat until ready to cook.
  2. To Cook: Pre heat an oven to 220°C. Place the pork on a rack in a roasting tin skin side up, pour in half the wine with a little water. Place it on the top shelf in the oven and cook it for 30 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 180°C and cook the meat for 1 hour and 30 minutes checking it at regular intervals, basting it with the cooking juices. When the pan becomes dry simply add more wine and a little water.
  3. Baked Apples: In the final 30 minutes cooking of the pork add the apples. Toss the apples in the lemon juice. Remove the pork from the oven and place the apples around the pan. Place a teaspoon of butter on each apple half and return the pan to the oven.
  4. Remove the pork from the oven and pierce the meat through the centre with a long sharp knife or skewer, the juices should run clear if the juices are pink it is not cooked through, you will need to cook it longer. The skin should also be crisp if it isn't increase the oven temperature to 200°C and cook the pork for 10 minutes longer. When the meat is cooked remove it from the oven and remove it from the roasting tin with the apple halves and place it in a warm place to rest.
  5. Sauce: Remove the excess fat from the roasting tin and add a little more wine and water to the pan if it is too dry. Briefly bring it to the boil on a stove and serve.
  6. To Serve: Slice the pork with a carving knife into even slices and place them on serving plates with the baked apples. Pour a little of the cooking juices over the meat. Place Hasselback or roast potatoes on one the side of each plate and serve with your choice of green vegetables.