Roasted Rack of Pork with Peach, Rosé & Rosemary Glaze

by Theo Michaels from Rustica (Ryland Peters & Small)

Photography: Mowie Kay © Ryland Peters & Small

At Greek Easter it’s not uncommon to cook a whole goat or pig to celebrate the end of Lent and fasting, meat having traditionally been more of a luxury reserved for a celebratory meal than an everyday food. This recipe indulges that idea with a slow-roasted rack of pork, smothered in a peach and rosemary glaze that’s been enriched with rosé wine. Quite simply, it’s delicious! As a rack of pork is a lean meat, despite the blanket of fat, so overcooking it can make it tough. To avoid this, I brine the meat for a few hours before cooking to ensure a succulent and mouth-watering roast.

Serves 6–8

Ingredients

2–2.5-kg pork rack, French trimmed, skinned, fat left on

250g salt

200g white sugar, for brining (plus 1–2 teaspoons extra, to taste)

1 whole garlic bulb (about 10–12 cloves)

6 sprigs of fresh rosemary

6 dried bay leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 ripe peaches, stoned and chopped

250ml rosé or white wine

1 white onion, thickly sliced

a knob of butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season

a simple green salad and fried potatoes, to serve

Method

Making the brine couldn’t be easier. Find a large non-reactive container (plastic, glass or stainless steel) big enough to take the whole rack of pork. Put the salt and 200g of sugar in the container with about 1 litre of cold water and stir until fully dissolved. Add a few of the rosemary sprigs, about 6 garlic cloves, lightly cracked (you can leave the skin on) and the bay leaves.

Submerge the whole rack of pork in the brine. Cover and keep in the fridge for a few hours. (If you can’t fit it in your fridge, add ice cubes to the water to keep it chilled, or you can even put it outside if it’s a cold day.) You will need to remove the pork from the brine 30 minutes before you plan to cook it, to dry it and bring it to room temperature.

Whilst the pork is in the brine, make the peach glaze. Crush 2 garlic cloves and add to a small saucepan with the olive oil. Set over a low heat and just warm the garlic through (without letting it colour), then add the leaves stripped from half a rosemary sprig followed by the peaches, wine (reserving a splash to deglaze the roasting pan later) and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes over a low heat, uncovered, or until the peaches have broken down but still retain a little texture. Taste, as depending on the sweetness of your peaches and wine, you may want to add a little more sugar. Remove from the heat, siphon off one third of the mixture and reserve for the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas 7.

Scatter the onion slices, any remaining garlic cloves (lightly cracked with the skin on) and a few sprigs of rosemary into a large roasting pan and place the pork on top. Score the fat on the pork with a small sharp knife, without piercing the flesh, and season with salt and pepper. Spoon over two-thirds of the peach glaze.

Roast the pork in the preheated oven for 11/2 hours, then remove from the oven, transfer to a tray and loosely cover with kitchen foil.

Let rest for 30 minutes (this resting period is important as it ensures the meat finishes cooking internally and is tender).

Set the roasting pan and its contents over a low heat and add the reserved splash of wine. Heat, scraping off any of the burnt bits, and simmer for 5 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Remove from the heat, add the butter and the remaining peach glaze and whisk it in until emulsified. Pass through a sieve into a sauce jug. Put the rested pork rack on a large wooden board ready to be carved and serve with the jug/pitcher of warmed peach glaze on the side for pouring. The perfect accompaniments to this are a simple green salad and crisply fried potatoes sprinkled with a little Greek dried oregano.

Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish:

 https://luscombe.co.uk/collections/bubblies/products/damascene-rose-bubbly?variant=39268753244341 https://dollywines.com/en-gb/products/dolly-wines-rose?variant=48958320312635