Arista (Roast rack of Pork)

Sunday and Mick and I have a precious day alone.  We have a little bit of work to do for the arrival of more guests on Monday but generally it is a day of pottering and some lazy time in the morning to decide what I will cook for dinner.  I always cook from scratch even if there are just the two of us and so I sit with a coffee and a wonderful cook book which my sister bought for me sometime after we moved here.

It is called Twelve – A Tuscan Cookbook by Tessa Kiros.  But that’s not Spanish I hear you cry.  No it isn’t but of course the climate is very similar and so are the ingredients.  I love it – it is seasonal too so that really helps sometimes.  However, I really fancied a roast type dinner tonight and so went straight to February!

The pork here is fantastic – really good quality and I never seem to go wrong with it.  Actually I didnt’ have a rack of pork – I had a solomillo or fillet to you.  But I knew it would work just as well, just a little less cooking time (do watch it though as the fillet will cook fairly quickly so check it 30 minutes after the browning bit).   So you will probably need to go to the butcher and ask for a rack of pork (just like a rack of lamb).  Ask the butcher to chine it for you otherwise it makes carving difficult.  You can also look up chining on Google if you feel like having a go yourself!  If you can’t be bothered then do as I did and just get a lovely fillet of pork – the size you get depends on how many you are cooking for but around 1.5 kg will feed 5-6 with some leftovers.  If you are using a fillet, it is easier to judge by eye how much you will need as you will be slicing it up.

Ingredients

1 fillet or rack of Pork

zest of one lemon

Some slices of bacon, pancetta or palma ham

1 onion chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 celery stalks in pieces

A good slug of white wine – a couple of glasses

Half a cup of olive oil infused with sage, rosemary, thyme and garlic all chopped up and left for a while in the oil

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/400F/Gas mark 6

Rub the fillet all over with the oil and herbs – just do it with your hands

and scatter the lemon zest over

Wrap up in slices of bacon or whatever you are using and secure to the bones by tie-ing with kitchen string

Give a good grinding of pepper but no salt as the bacon is enough

Drizzle olive oil on to a roasting dish and place the pork in

Put the vegetables around the meat

Brown the meat for 10-15 minutes each side and then slosh in the wine and reduce the heat to 180c/350 f/Gas mark4 and continue to cook for up to an hour, turning occasionally and basting with the juices – you can add a cup or so of water if it looks like it needs it as it doesn’t want to dry out

Then remove from the oven and stick a skewer through to make sure it is cooked through – the juices must be clear.  Leave to cool and then carve if a rib or slice if a fillet.  I must say if you are not a confident cook then use the fillet as it is so easy and looks and tastes fantastic.  If you have the rib just cut into chops as you would a rack of lamb.