MARVELLOUS MAINS

We’ve got you covered with everything from traditional turkey and roast beef, to salmon and vegetarian options – your only problem will be picking which one to serve on the day!

Bone-in pork loin is a prime cut, and you’ve got two options when carving. Firstly, the whole thing can be taken off the bone and the bones can be served separately like ribs, or you can carve the joint into chops and the meat in-between into thick slices.

QServes 8

QPrep 50 mins plus overnight salting

2kg pork loin on the bone (see butcher’s talk, right), chined and Frenchtrimmed, skin scored

1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes, cut

into chunks sunflower oil, for roasting

8 small dessert apples (like Braeburns) 50g butter large bunch of sage, leaves picked

FOR THE STUFFING

25g butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp dried sage small handful of sage leaves,

finely chopped large handful of parsley, chopped

1 pork sausage, meat squeezed

from the skin

50g fresh breadcrumbs

1 spring onion, finely sliced

1 lemon, zested

1 If you have time, the day before roasting, season the pork skin with salt, then chill, uncovered. To get ahead, tip the potatoes into a large pan of cold, salted water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 mins, or until the potatoes are cooked through but not falling apart. Drain, but don’t shake or ruffle – just leave to cool. Chill, uncovered, until ready to roast.

2 To make the stuffing, heat the butter in a pan and cook the onion for 10 mins until soft and golden. Tip into a bowl with all the other stuffing ingredients, and season with plenty of black pepper. Scrunch everything together

QCook 2 hrs 30 mins

with your hands to combine, then chill until needed. To stuff the pork, see the pictures and instructions, right.

3 Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. If you haven’t boiled the potatoes, do so now (see step 1). Sit the pork in a shallow roasting tin, season, then drizzle the sunflower oil over the pork skin. Roast for 20 mins. Reduce the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6 and roast for another 1 hr, basting the skin occasionally with the fat from the tin. Remove from the oven – you should have a nice layer of fat in the base of the tin. Baste again, then carefully pour the fat into a second roasting tin, add the potatoes, and use a spatula to turn to coat. Return the pork to the oven along with the potatoes for 40 mins, by which time the pork skin should have crackled and the potatoes are turned golden. Remove the pork from its tin and transfer to a board. Leave to rest, uncovered, for 20 mins while the potatoes roast.

4 Meanwhile, turn the potatoes, then score a line around each apple and sit them in the pork tin. Dot with half the butter and roast for 20 mins until soft. By now, the potatoes should be golden and crispy, too.

5 Heat the remaining butter in a pan until sizzling, and fry the sage leaves, turning, until crisp. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain. To serve, carve the pork into chops and plate with the potatoes, apples and a scattering of crispy sage leaves.

PER SERVING 565 kcals, fat 23g, saturates 8g,

carbs 42g, sugars 10g, fibre 5g, protein 45g, salt 0.4g