ROAST WHOLE SUCKLING PIG

ROAST WHOLE SUCKLING PIG image

Categories Pork

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

1 small suckling pig, gutted and cleaned, with the kidneys left within
olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
Stuffing
4 red onions
a dollop of duck fat
375ml red wine
kidneys of the pig, chopped
1/2 loaf of day-old white bread, cubed
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
8 sage leaves, chopped

Steps:

A day before cooking, salt and pepper your piglet liberally (we used around 6 tablespoons of salt), both inside and out, and place it uncovered on a wire rack, over a tray, and into your fridge. You want it to be cool and dry. Cook the red onions in duck fat over low heat until the onions are soft. Pour in the red wine. Let this simmer and reduce until the mixture becomes a yummy, dark red confit. If you find that the onions are becoming a tad dry but aren't soft enough, you can add a little bit of water to the pan and keep cooking. Add the chopped-up kidneys to the mix. Then add pieces of bread and stir well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Take off the heat and add the garlic and sage. Set aside until cool to the touch. When ready, stuff your piglet. Turn your piglet over onto its back and fill the cavity with the stuffing. Sew as much of your piglet shut as you can. I used kitchen twine and a large needle and was able to sew up about two-thirds of its front. Preheat your oven with the fan on to 150 degrees Celsius. If you don't have a fan function, heat to 160 degrees Celsius. Lightly oil a roasting pan or oven tray and place your piglet on it, "sphinx-like", i.e. belly down, with its legs close to but on the side of the body. Shove a small ball of aluminium foil into the piglet's mouth. Also wrap the piggy's ears in foil. Rub a healthy amount of olive oil all over the piglet's back and sprinkle a little more sea salt over it. Pop it into your oven and roast for between 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours. We roasted ours for 3 hours 40 minutes and then turned off the heat in our oven, but left the fan on, and left it inside for another 30 minutes. Note, if you don't have a fan-assisted oven, you may want to spin your pan around after about 2 hours. Your pig's skin should be crisp and the meat tender and moist. Carve it at the table or inside your kitchen. Enjoy!