Roast Pork with Cider Gravy
This British dinner recipe transforms a hand and spring of pork into a succulent feast through slow roasting. The joint is cooked with leeks, carrots, turnip and herbs in a bath of cider and chicken stock, resulting in incredibly tender meat. A simple gravy made from the cooking juices completes the dish. It serves 8 people and requires just over 5 and a half hours to prepare and cook, ideal for a weekend gathering.
Ingredients
- 1 boned and rolled hand and spring of pork skin scored (about 4kg)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt
- 3 leeks roughly chopped
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 1 turnip peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 sprig sage
- 500ml cider
- 500ml hot chicken stock
- 25g butter
- 25g flour
Method
- Preheat your oven to 220C/ 200C fan/ gas 7. Rub the scored pork skin with olive oil and sea salt. Place the pork, leeks, carrots, turnip and herbs into a large roasting tin, then pour over the cider and hot chicken stock. Roast for 30 minutes. Take the tin from the oven, cover it tightly with foil, then reduce the oven temperature to 150C/ 130C fan/ gas 2 and return the pork to cook.
- Once 4 hours have passed, take off the foil. Increase the oven temperature back to 220C/ 200C fan/ gas 7 and continue roasting the pork for a further 30 minutes.
- Remove the pork from the oven. Take the meat out of the tin, cover it and leave it to rest. Drain the cooking liquid from the tin, skimming off any fat. You can serve the cooked vegetables or discard them.
- For the gravy, melt the butter in a small pan. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk the reserved cooking liquid into the pan. Let the gravy simmer for a few minutes before serving it with the sliced pork.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories677 kcal
Fat39 g
Saturates14 g
Carbs9 g
Sugars7 g
Fibre3 g
Protein62 g
Sodium400 mg
Salt1 g
Recipe details
Skill levelEasy
CategoryMain course
Cuisinebritish
