For several years now I’ve catered for dinner parties and yesterday I did another, this time for a close family friend’s 18th birthday. The menu consisted of:

Starter – Mixed Tomato and Puy Lentil Salad with Mozerella and Basil

Main course – Stuffed Roasted Pork with Apple Sauce, Roast Potatoes, Savoy Cabbage, and Honey Glazed Carrots

Dessert – Chocolate Fondants with Vanilla Ice Cream and Fresh Berries

I’ve already done a post on the fondants back in September (which you can find in the recipe index), and the next post is going to be on the tomato and puy lentil salad so keep an eye out for that! But yeah, this was the main course, and if I say so myself, it’s a darn good one. All the classical elements of a good roast pork dinner are there with a few fancy touches added in to make it super special and tasty. This one’s great all year round, for special occasions, large gatherings or cosy Sunday lunches.

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

For the Pork

• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 White onion, finely chopped
• 3 Sage leaves, finely chopped
• 25g Fresh breadcrumbs
• 4 Thick herb pork sausages
• 2 Pork loins (about 0.5kg each)

For the Roast potatoes

• 3 Large Baking potatoes
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil

For the Cabbage

• 1 Savoy cabbage
• 25g Butter

For the Carrots

• 4 Large Carrots, cut into batons
• 25g Butter
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 2 Thyme sprigs

For the Apple sauce

• 3 Large Bramley apples
• 45g Brown sugar
• 30g Butter

For the Gravy

• 2 tbsp Plain flour
• 400ml Beef stock
• 100ml Cider

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onions. Fry whilst stirring occasionally until the onions begin to caramelise. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
2. Mix the onions with the sage, breadcrumbs, sausage and seasoning to make the stuffing.
3. Put the pork onto a chopping board and cut it in half lengthways, making sure not to cut all the way through the meat.
4. Using a spoon or your hands stuff the stuffing into the tenderloin. Close the loin back up to make it into it’s original shape. Tie the pork up with string in four places along the loin to keep it in place. Then put the pork onto some clingfilm and wrap it tightly. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least an hour before using.
5. Now prep the roast potatoes. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Peel the potatoes and chop them into halves or quarters depending on the size of the potatoes. Tip the potatoes into the water and leave to boil until they start to flake.
6. Drain the potatoes and then put them back into the pan, add the oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and shake the pan to coat the potatoes in the oil and to bash them up a bit – these flakes on the surface of the potatoes will help the, to crisp up.
7. Tip the potatoes into a roasting tin and roast in the oven for half an hour, flipping them over occasionally so they crisp up evenly. Leave them to keep cooking whilst you move back to the pork.
8. Rub the meat with salt a pepper and then place in a roasting tin. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes until cooked through, the juices should run clear.
9. Whilst the pork is cooking prepare the cabbage. Put the water into a pan and bring to the boil. Peel the leaves off the cabbage and then bunch them together and chop finely to shred. Add these to the boiling water and then leave to boil for 5-10 minutes until tender.
10. Sieve the cabbage to remove the water. Then in the same pan melt the butter and then toss the cabbage leaves in it. Cover with a lid to keep warm and set aside for later.
11. Now glaze the carrots. Boil a pan of water and add the carrot batons. Boil them until they are tender and a knife goes into them easily. Put the butter, thyme and honey into a pan and add the carrots. Heat gently over a medium heat until the sauce bubbles and glazes the carrots. Tip the mixture into a roasting tin and leave in the oven for the last few minutes of roasting the potatoes and pork.
12. Next make the apple sauce. Peel, core and roughly chop the apples. Then put these apple chunks, the butter and sugar into a pan and cook for about 15 minutes until the apples break down and it becomes a sauce. Keep warm until needed.
13. Transfer the pork to a plate to rest and then make the gravy. Spoon the meat juices into a pan and then add the flour and cook until the flour has absorbed all the juice – I find using a whisk is a good way to remove the lumps.
14. Slowly add the stock and the cider until you have a smooth sauce. Leave to boil for about 5 minutes, whisking occasionally, until the mixture starts to thicken. Strain the gravy into a jug and serve with the pork, apple sauce, potatoes, carrots and cabbage!

Thanks for reading, and if anyone needs a dinner party caterer just hmu!

Emma x