Slow-roasted pork with fennel & black pepper recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food

Cut the string from the joint and unroll it. Flatten out as much as possible, cutting through any thick pieces if necessary to give you an even thickness of meat. Mix the garlic, fennel, pepper, rosemary, bay and 1 tsp salt. Sprinkle evenly over all sides of the pork and massage it in. Place on a platter, cover loosely with foil and chill for at least 4 hrs or up to 24 hrs.

Re-roll the joint and tie at intervals along its length with string. Bring to room temp an hr before roasting and heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast the pork in a roasting tin for 2 hrs, basting occasionally and adding the wine after 1 hr. Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter and pour over the pan juices. Cover tightly with foil and leave to rest for 15 mins. Serve with beans (see 'Goes well with') and salad (see below).

Making really crispy crackling You should get decent crackling from this cut by cooking the pork the way I have described, but if you want to be totally sure of it I suggest you increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for the final half hour of cooking. Check the wine has not started to evaporate, adding a little more if necessary. Or, if you prefer, you can remove the skin from the joint, rub it evenly with salt, then cook it on a baking sheet on the shelf above the pork.