Roast loin of pork with pear sauce
Try this roast loin of pork with pear sauce for your next Sunday lunch, with crisp crackling, a rich gravy and a tasty twist on classic apple sauce.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg/3lb 5oz boneless pork loin, rolled, tied and scored
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp onion salt
- 2 soft pears, peeled, cored and cut into quarters
- 1 onion, cut into quarters
- 400ml/14fl oz dry cider
- 250ml/9fl oz vegetable stock
- 2 tsp cornflour
- black pepper
For the pear sauce
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- 25g/1oz butter
- 4 ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
- 100ml/3½fl oz dry cider
- 2 tbsp golden caster sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Dry the skin of the pork with kitchen paper. Drizzle with the oil, then rub the garlic and onion salts evenly over the meat, followed by a good grinding of black pepper. Place in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Remove the pork to a board and add the pear and onion quarters to the roasting tin. Arrange the pork to sit on top. Pour in 150ml/5fl oz cider and roast for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until cooked through – the juices should run clear when a skewer is inserted into the centre (75C on a meat thermometer).
If the skin has not crackled, turn the oven back to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7 and roast for a further 15 minutes to crisp up the skin. Transfer the pork to a board and leave to rest for 10–15 minutes.
To make the pear sauce, toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan for 1–2 minutes. Crush with a pestle and mortar. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the pear chunks and cook for 6–8 minutes until softened. Add the cider and sugar and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised. Crush to make a rough purée with a potato masher. Transfer to a serving dish.
To make gravy, put the roasting tin with the pork juices over a low heat and use a potato masher to roughly crush the onion and pears to a pulp. Pour in the remaining cider and the vegetable stock, turn up the heat and allow to bubble and reduce for a few minutes, whisking constantly. Mix the cornflour with a tablespoon of cold water until smooth, add to the tin and cook for a few minutes to thicken, stirring frequently. Add any pork resting juices to the tin. Strain the gravy through a sieve into a saucepan and heat for 2–3 minutes. Season to taste.
To serve, carve the pork and serve with the gravy and pear sauce.