Roast Leg of Pork with Spiced Rhubarb

Written by Nigel Slater on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 11:42PM
Filed in: Recipes
Comments: 0

Rhubarb makes a change from traditional apple sauce and shares its ability to balance the richness of the meat. Rather than leave it as a rough purée, I whizz the rhubarb into a smooth sauce, a contrast to the roughness of the crackling. Serves 4, with seconds.

For the Meat:
a piece of pork leg, boned, scored
and rolled, about 1kg
for the seasoning:
salt, black pepper
the leaves from three bushy thyme sprigs
2 glasses of white wine

For the Sauce:
400g rhubarb
2 tbsp sugar
the zest and juice of a small orange
ground cinnamon

Make a rub for the pork with salt, pepper and the leaves from the thyme. Massage it into the skin of the pork, making sure to get it right down in between the score marks. Roast the meat at 220C/gas mark 7 for 25 minutes, then lower the heat to 180C/gas mark 4, allowing 25 minutes per 500g.

Make the rhubarb sauce. Trim the stalks, removing the leaves (which are poisonous in quantity), and cut into short pieces. Put them into a stainless steel or enamelled pan with the sugar and the zest and juice of the orange. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a slow simmer. Leave until the fruit has virtually collapsed.

Whizz the rhubarb in a food processor or blender till smooth. Season to taste with salt and a very little ground cinnamon.

Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes, lightly covered with a dome of foil. (Too tight and it will soften the crackling.) Put the roasting pan on the heat and pour in the white wine, stirring and scraping at the sticky bits in the pan as you go. Bring to the boil then season carefully and pour into a warm jug. Carve the roast, serving each plate with some of the gravy and passing round the rhubarb sauce.

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