I do enjoy a tasty, moist roast. If you prepare the meat and trimmings earlier in the day or even the night before, then it is simply a matter of preheating the oven, pushing the roasting tray inside and letting your trusty appliance do the rest of the work. Imagine how fabulous it would be if the oven could slice the finished roast for you and even serve up! Now that reminds me of a George Jetson cartoon…

This evening I made Roast Pork Loin with Fennel, Apples, Prunes. I combined 1 tablespoon of dried fennel seeds with 4 large apples and a good handful of prunes in a bowl, with a tablespoon of olive oil and a good grind of pepper and sea salt. This was piled around the pork. A bowl of coarsely chopped buttered chat potatoes and a French green bean salad with lemon and olive oil, completed the meal. 

Flavourings and pork loin ready to be added to the roasting rack. 


About to go into the oven. 


Dinner time! 

My friend Ruth recommends adding some water, stock or white wine to the bottom of the roasting pan before it goes into the oven. I poured in half a cup of water. This combined with the pork and various flavourings and resulted in sticky, scented juices at the bottom of the roasting pan. I spooned the concentrated sauce over everyone’s sliced pork, but this can also be used to make traditional gravy. 

I prefer to roast my pork at 200 degrees centigrade on a conventional setting. Allow 30 minutes per kilogram of meat plus an additional 15 minutes. This extra 15 minutes of roasting is done at 230 degrees in order to make crunchy crackling. If using a fan forced oven, reduce the temperatures by 20 degrees. 

Make sure you rub your pork well with salt prior to cooking. I don’t oil the pork because this can cause it to smoke especially when making the crackling. Oh and make sure the rind is scored and the loin neatly tied. A reputable butcher usually offers this service. 

You can use other flavourings besides fennel, apples and prunes. Try garlic, lemon and rosemary, or ginger and coriander for something a little different.