How to cook a rolled pork roast

Once you've bought a delicious rare breed, free range pork roast from Langdale Farm, you'll need to know how to cook it!

And the single most important thing with a pork roast of any sort is crackling, right? 

​Here's the fail safe method that I use at Langdale Farm which gives you great crackling, every time. ​

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How to cook a rolled pork roast with perfect crackling

INGREDIENTS 
Pork roast, ideally rare breed, free range pork from Langdale Farm, Tasmania. Also onion, apricots, thyme, parsley and salt and pepper.  

PREHEAT THE OVEN
First things first, turn it on to about 150.

SALT YOUR ROAST 
Salt the skin of your roast, ideally for a couple of hours before you begin cooking. Some people do it overnight. Take the roast out of the packaging and rub salt over the skin, liberally. Put it back in the fridge and let it sit for a couple of hours ideally. If you’ve only got 15 minutes, it’s not the end of the world. When you're ready to begin preparing the dish, brush the salt off and blot the skin to  absorb any moisture that has been drawn out.

STUFF YOUR ROAST
Chop or slice some onion and fry gently in a pan.
Remove onion from heat and mix with chopped apricots, parsley, breadcrumbs, thyme, salt and pepper.
Cut through the strings and open the roast out. Depending on how it’s been prepared by the butcher, you may need to do a little knife work to open it up.
Spread the stuffing across the pork and roll up again, tying with more string.

OILING
Rub some olive oil or softened coconut oil over the skin. Add a little more salt and pepper and perhaps caraway seeds - traditionally used with pork in some European cultures.

COOKING
Prepare a flat baking tin or tray: line it with baking paper. Add sliced onions and apple to the bottom of the tin, in a layer.
Place a rack across the tin and put the roast on top.

Roast in oven for 140/150 for an hour or two, depending whether it’s a small or large roast. For the last half hour of cooking, turn the oven up to 240. Keep an eye on the roast so that it doesn’t burn, but this hot blast should make it crackle.

Rest for a wee while, with a Tasmanian Pinot Gris or Noir. The pork roast should rest too. 

If the juices and fruit/onion on the bottom of the pan are not too burned, you can make a gravy or sauce using these.
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Carve and serve. We like it with roast or mashed potatoes, cauliflower or parsnip puree, and greens. 

Visit our Recipes page for more lovely ways to cook Langdale Farm pork.