Slow-roast hand and spring with crackling and onion gravy
Mary Berry cooks this roast pork slow and low, using hand and spring. A perfect Sunday lunch for tardy guests! Her secret for crackling is brilliant.
Ingredients
- 1 hand and spring of pork on the bone, skin scored
- 3 large onions, thickly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 8 bay leaves
- small bunch sage, tied in a bunch
- 700ml/1¼ pints hot chicken or vegetable stock
- 25g/1oz butter
- 25g/1oz flour
- salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Rub 2 tablespoons of salt over the skin of the pork. Put the onions, garlic, bay leaves, sage and stock into a deep roasting tin. Sit the joint on top, skin-side up. Cover the roasting tin with foil and seal the edges tightly. Roast for about 40 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2 and cook for 2½–3 hours, or until the meat is completely tender and falling off the bone.
Transfer the pork to a board. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the onions into a bowl, remove the bay and sage and discard. Spoon the onions onto a serving platter, cover and keep warm. Strain the stock into a jug.
Turn the oven up to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Lay a piece of foil on a baking sheet. Carefully remove the pork skin and place on the foil. Using scissors, snip into narrow strips. Sprinkle with salt. Cover the pork with foil and keep warm. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and cook the skin for 5–10 minutes, or until it is crisp and deep golden brown.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir over the heat for a few seconds to make a roux. Whisk in the reserved hot stock over a medium–high heat, whisking until the sauce is thick and smooth.
Pull the pork off the bone and arrange next to the onions on the serving platter. Snip the crackling into pieces and add to the platter. Serve with the hot gravy in a jug.
Recipe Tips
The hand and spring is the upper part of the pig’s foreleg. It is usually sold boned and rolled as a joint, and is less expensive than the major roasting joints, such as leg and loin. Here it is cooked on the bone, slowly braised until really tender. You can also cook pork belly this way.