Roast pork with crackling

Ingredients

• 4.4 lbpork loin, skin on, scored by the butcher
• 2 tbspsea salt, flaky
• 1 tbspolive oil
• 2 tspfennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 2onions, thickly sliced
• 2apples, quartered, cores removed
• 1/4 ozfresh rosemary, a few sprigs

Method

1. 1

   Take the pork out of any wrapping the night before if you can and leave it uncovered in the fridge. Just before cooking, blot the skin over and over with paper towels until no more moisture comes away.

2. 2

   Check the scoring goes through the skin and into the fat but stops short of the meat, cutting any shallow lines deeper yourself. Rub the olive oil over the skin, then work the salt, crushed fennel seeds and pepper right down into the cuts.

3. 3

   Heat the oven to 475°F. Lay the onions, apples and rosemary in a roasting pan, sit the pork on top so the skin is clear of the pan, and roast at full heat until the skin has blistered and bubbled all over.

4. 4

   Turn the oven down to 350°F and roast until the pork is cooked through, with the juices from the thickest part running clear.

5. 5

   Rest the joint on a board, but set the crackling aside separately rather than tenting it with the meat. Squash the roasted apples and onions into the pan juices for a rough sauce.

6. 6

   Snap the crackling into shards, carve the pork into thick slices, and serve both with the apple and onion juices spooned over.