When I told Mrs. Spud to expect a delivery of suckling pig, she wasn’t best pleased.

“What, with the head and everything?”

I wasn’t sure what Grey’s Fine Foods were going to send me. But she needn’t be worried, as what turned up was a boned and rolled suckling pig joint. Perfect for the squeamish! I was a little relieved myself, not because I had to stare a pig in the face but whether it would fit in my oven. The meat they sent was a regular roasting joint size.

How best to treat this lovely bit of pork? A roast with Spanish flavours to bring out the sweetness and juiciness. The paprika here lends it a smoky aroma and fennel seeds are simply the best thing to have with any pork dish.

To make sure your pork – or any meat for that matter – is completely cooked without drying it out, you should use a meat thermometer. I’ve always advocated this. I was sent an ETI SuperFast Thermapen to try, one of the best in the business. You’ll see them being used on lots of cooking shows and I spotted them on Great British Bake Off recently.

It really is a deluxe model, with rotating screen (like your phone!) and instantly turns on when you extend the probe. At the time of writing it’s
£36 on Amazon.

But I wasn’t done yet. Here’s my classic roast potatoes recipe taken to the next level with chunks of crumbly chorizo. I’d usually add more oil or fats to the baking tray but the chorizo will leak out penty of lovely juices to carry on the cooking. Perfect! Best served with chicken gravy swirled through with a mild chilli sauce.

roast suckling pig with chorizo roasted potatoes

Gary @ BigSpud

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Course Main Dish

Cuisine English

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 kg suckling pig joint boned and rolled
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

For the roast potatoes:

• 1 kg Maris Piper potatoes peeled and diced
• 1 chorizo Sausage approx 150g broken into chunks
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 garlic cloves bashed
• 1 red onion sliced

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Using a pestle and mortar bash up the fennel, rosemary and paprika with a pinch of sea salt toa powder. Add a tablspoon of olive oil and smother all over the pork. Place into a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes at this temperature toget everything started, then turn the temperatrue down to 1670C.
• Cook for another 40 - 50 mins until the centre of the pork is 65C.
• For the potatoes,boil in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain really well and preheat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy based baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes,then add the remaining ingredients. Cook for another 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown, tossing occasionally. Check for seasoning before serving.

Thanks to ETI for the Thermapen and Grey’s Fine Foods for the pork.