Sunday Roast Pork with Crackling, Apple Sauce & Gravy

Ingredients

• 1.8 kg pork loin joint with rind, scored and dried
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds (optional)
• 2 tsp sea salt (for the rind)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 600 g eating apples, peeled and chopped
• ½ lemon, juice only
• 400 ml hot pork or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 kg Maris Piper potatoes (for roast potatoes)
• 25 g unsalted butter
• Fresh thyme, to serve
• Steamed seasonal greens, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/gas 9. Pat the pork rind bone dry, then score it deeply at 5 mm intervals with a sharp knife, cutting through the fat but not into the meat. Rub the salt firmly into every score, brush the meat (not the rind) with olive oil, season with the pepper and press the crushed fennel seeds into the cuts if using.
2. Sit the pork on a rack in a roasting tin and blast for 30 minutes until the rind starts to bubble and crack. Drop the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3 and roast for a further 1¼–1½ hours, until a probe reads 65°C in the thickest part and the juices run clear. If the crackling needs a final push, slide it under a hot grill for 10–15 minutes — watch it closely until it puffs and shatters at the touch of a knife.
3. While the pork is in, make the apple sauce. Tip the apples into a small pan with the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and 50 ml water. Simmer gently for 12–15 minutes, lid on, until the apples collapse, then crush roughly with a fork to a soft, jammy texture. Keep warm.
4. For the roasties, peel the potatoes into large chunks and parboil in salted water for 8–10 minutes, until the edges just give to a knife. Drain, return to the pan and shake hard to rough up the surfaces. Tip into a tray of smoking-hot oil, turn to coat, and roast at 200°C fan for 45–50 minutes, turning once, until deeply golden and crisp-edged.
5. Lift the pork onto a board and rest, loosely tented, for 15–20 minutes. Drain off most of the fat from the tin, leaving about 2 tbsp and all the dark sticky bits. Set on a medium hob, scatter in the flour and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty. Whisk in the hot stock a splash at a time until smooth, then simmer for 3–4 minutes until glossy and lightly thickened. Drop in the butter, swirl through, season and strain if you like it smooth.
6. Carve the pork in thick slices, snapping the crackling into shards with the back of a knife. Pile onto warm plates with the roasties, a generous spoonful of apple sauce and a flood of hot gravy. Finish with fresh thyme and a crack of black pepper.