Roasted crown of pork with fennel mash

A crown roast is formed by taking a regular bone-in pork loin (that's the big muscle that runs along the back of the pig), and forming it into a circle with the ribs pointed skyward.

In order to do this with a single rack (about 10 ribs), you need to cut into the spaces between the ribs so that they can splay out a bit. However, by doing this, you end up increasing the surface area of the pork, which can cause it to dry out more than it would if it was still completely intact.

Better is to buy a crown roast formed by both bone-in loins attached end-to-end, making them large enough to form a circle without any unnecessary cutting. Ask your butcher to prepare it for you.

Aim to have about a rib and a half per person, or a two per person if you're looking for leftovers.

Photo by Ray Attard

Roasted crown of pork with clementine

Serves 10

Ingredients

• 2 X 2kg whole pork chops (or ask your butcher to prepare a crown of pork)
• 1 cup water
• 3 carrots
• 1 Clementine or tangerine, juice only
• Salt and pepper

For the stuffing

• Bunch of wild fennel leaves
• 4 sage leaves, chopped
• 4 shallots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper

For the dressing

• 3 Clementines, juice only
• 4 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 sage leaves, finely chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 150°C.
2. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
3. Mix the ingredients for the stuffing and place in the centre of the crown.
4. Place the stuffed crown in a deep oven dish and add the water, carrots and Clementine juice and cook for approx 3 hours until tender and still very slightly pink, basting in its own juices every 30 mins.
5. Whisk the ingredients of the dressing together.
6. Serve with dressing and blanched beans and fennel mash.

Fresh bean and fennel mash

Ingredients

• Fresh fennel bulbs
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp fennel seeds

Method

1. Boil the fennel bulbs until tender but still retain a little bit of a bite.
2. Process in a food processor adding the butter and fennel seeds.

Photo by Ray Attard