A British Sunday classic, brought bang up to date with the addition of Pink Lady® apples.
Full preparation
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Pre-heat the oven to 220°C. Lay the pork joint in a roasting tin and rub all over with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the hot oven for 30 minutes.
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Turn the heat down to 160°C and continue to roast for further 1 hour and 40 minutes (for a 2 kg joint). If your joint weighs more or less, simply roast at the hot temperature for 30 minutes, then roast at the lower temperature for 25 minutes per kg.
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Once cooking time has finished, remove the pork, wrap loosely in tin foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
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Once the pork is roasting in the oven, start the apples. In a small frying pan, gently sweat the onion with the olive oil, butter, bacon and sage, seasoning well with salt & freshly ground black pepper. Allow to soften over a low heat for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion is lightly caramelised.While the onion is cooking, prepare the apples.
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Slice the top off each apple, cutting about 1 cm from the top, and score a fine line through the skin all around the middle of each. Using a melon baller, sturdy teaspoon or small knife, carefully scoop and hollow out the core and a little of the surround apple, leaving you with a walnut-sized cavity.
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Finely chop the excess apple from the core and add to the frying pan, along with the walnuts and fry for a further 5 minutes.
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Place the apples in a snug cluster in a small baking dish and spoon the filling into the hollows, packing it down quite firmly.
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Top each with the cut off apple top, creating a lid. 20 minutes before the pork is due to be done, slide the apples into the oven and bake 40 minutes until soft when pierced with a skewer.
