Recipe by Suzanne Gibbs

Serving size: Serves 8
Cuisine type: Italian
Cooking time: More than 2 hours
Course: Main
Favourite flavours: Pork

Italian roast pork

INGREDIENTS

3 large garlic cloves, cut into slivers
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2.5kg boned pork loin, rind scored

METHOD

1. Use a mortar and pestle to lightly crush garlic, rosemary and fennel. Mix in oil. Push garlic mixture into scored rind and rub with salt and pepper. Place in a dish and cover with plastic wrap. Marinate overnight in refrigerator.

2. Preheat oven to 220°C. Remove pork from dish and pat dry with paper towel. Place pork on a rack in a baking pan and roast for 20 minutes, until skin begins to colour. Reduce heat to 190°C and cook for another 1½ hours, until crackling is golden and crisp and pork cooked through.

3. Rest in a warm place for 15 minutes. Remove crackling, cut into serving pieces. Carve pork and arrange on a serving platter with crackling.

Tips: If crackling isn't crunchy, slice away from cooked pork and lay on a baking tray. While pork rests, place crackling in a preheated 230°C oven until crisp and the surface is bubbled.


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