Panettone, brie and sage-stuffed pork loin
Enhance the classic flavour combination of pork, sage and apples with a modern stuffing of panettone breadcrumbs, lemon zest and creamy brie.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh coarse panettone breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp nely chopped sage leaves
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season
2.2kg pork loin fillet, skinless, butterflied (with belly meat still attached, no tenderloin)
150g brie, thinly sliced into strips
6 rashers streaky bacon Pork crackling, to serve
ON THE DAY
6 small red apples
Watercress, to serve
Method
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Combine panettone, sage and lemon zest and juice in a large bowl. Season.
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Lay pork on a chopping board, skin-side down (where skin used to be). Scatter panettone mixture over pork and press down firmly. Top with brie in a single layer. Roll up pork tightly to enclose filling, starting from 1 short edge.
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Turn pork so it is seam- side down then lay bacon over top of pork, securing with lengths of kitchen string. Wrap in plastic wrap, transfer to a labelled large zip-lock bag and freeze, seam-side down, for up to 2 months.
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Two days before:
Thaw pork on a plate in the fridge for 48 hours (and dry out pork skin for crackling, if using).
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On the day:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Transfer pork to tray, seam-side down.
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Roast for 2 hours or until bacon is golden and crisp and pork is cooked through, covering with foil if bacon is over-browning.
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Meanwhile, use a small sharp knife to cut a ring around middle of each apple, about 5mm deep. During the last 30 minutes of pork cooking, add apples to pan. Set aside pork for 25 minutes to rest. (Cook crackling now, if using.) Serve pork and apples with watercress and crackling.
To make great crackling, line an oven tray with baking paper with at least a 2cm lip. Cut a 30 x 20cm piece pork skin into long 3cm- wide strips. Arrange on prepared tray and refrigerate uncovered overnight. (This is key to crispier crackling.) On the day of serving, once roast is cooked and is resting, keep oven on 220°C. Drizzle pork skin with 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and scatter with 3 tsp sea- salt flakes. Massage until well coated. Rearrange in a single layer on tray then roast for 25 minutes or until crisp and golden. Carefully drain pork fat and serve.
