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ROSAMUND’S SUCKLING PIG WITH RHUBARB AND GINGER WINE

Please click on the image to see enlarged version of the finished recipe.

This recipe is a delicious way to eat our Middle White suckling pig while rhubarb is still in season. The recipe uses a leg but the shoulder or loin will do just as well – both will need an extra 15 minutes roasting time. It also works very well with joints from our Middle White porkers – with suitable adjustment for the roasting time.
Servings: 5 or 6 people

Ingredients

  • 1 leg of Middle White suckling pig
  • 4 sticks of rhubarb, forced if possible
  • 6 shallots
  • Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Sprig of rosemary
  • 200 ml (or thereabouts) Stone’s Ginger Wine
  • 75-100 ml good chicken stock (or water – in which case keep to the lower amount!)
  • 2 heaped tbsp. granulated sugar – you may need to add a bit more at the end
  • 2 tbsp light olive oil
  • A walnut sized knob of butter
  • Sea salt (such as Maldon) and pepper

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 220°C. For the best crackling, the oven needs to be really hot when you put the meat in.
  • Dry the meat very thoroughly all over with kitchen paper.
  • Slather it with olive oil (the easiest way to do this is with your hands) and give it a good sprinkling of sea salt.
  • Sit it on a sprig of rosemary in a roasting tin and roast for 45 minutes. 
  • Baste and turn the oven down to 180°C. 
  • Roast for 15 minutes at 180°C and then for a final 15 minutes at 220°C (check that the crackling isn’t burning before turning the oven up for the final 15 minutes – you may need to leave it at the lower temperature for slightly longer).
  • Meanwhile cut the rhubarb into 1″ pieces and peel the shallots (leave them whole). Peel and grate the ginger and peel and chop the garlic.
  • When the meat is cooked, dish it up onto a warmed plate and leave to rest, covered loosely with a clean tea towel. Tip off most of the fat (and keep it in the fridge for roast potatoes) and remove the rosemary. 
  • Return the roasting pan to the oven with the shallots for 5 minutes.
  • Turn the shallots so that they caramelise all over and then add the rhubarb, sugar and garlic. 
  • Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Keep a watch – you don’t want the rhubarb to collapse or the garlic to burn.
  • Remove the rhubarb and shallots carefully with a slotted spoon and put them round the meat. 
  • Deglaze the pan with the stock (or water), add the Ginger Wine and the grated ginger and reduce by a third. Add the knob of butter, adjust the seasoning and also the sweetness – if the rhubarb is young and pink you will not need any more sugar (the wine is sweet). Strain the sauce over the shallots and rhubarb and serve.
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