> Printer Friendly Version | Email Recipe
 

February 2006 Recipe

Italian Pot Roast Pork With Milk
(Arista)

            Roasting pork with milk, an ancient trick for whitening the meat, also produces a pleasant gravy the color of a café latté. Don’t be alarmed if the sauce separates slightly—it usually does.  If this bothers you, purée it until smooth with an immersion blender, or in an upright blender.  I like to serve this pork with roasted shallots (page 00), and a green vegetable such as zucchini or green beans.

Serves 6

• 2 pounds/900 g boneless pork loin
• small bunch of rosemary
• small bunch of chives
• head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• 1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup/75 ml/2½ fl oz olive oil
• 2 cups/500 ml/16 fl oz milk, more if needed

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C/Gas 3. Tie the pork loin in an even cylinder (page 00).  Pull leaves from the rosemary, reserving a few sprigs for decoration. Cut the chives in short lengths.  Work the rosemary and chives to a paste in a food processor with the garlic, peppercorns, salt and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a casserole and brown the meat thoroughly on all sides, taking 8 to 10 minutes. Pour off any excess fat.  Spread the herb and garlic paste on top of the meat and pour the milk into the casserole. The meat should be half covered by the liquid.  Cover loosely with aluminum foil and roast in the oven, basting occasionally, until a skewer inserted in the center of the meat comes out hot when withdrawn after 30 seconds. You should allow 1 to 1¼ hours and a meat thermometer should register 160°F/70°C. If the sauce reduces rapidly during cooking, add more milk.
3. To finish: if necessary, reheat the pork in the pot. Transfer it to a carving board, cover it loosely with aluminum foil and leave 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk the sauce vigorously to smooth the texture and simmer until it is well-flavored and reduced by about half.   Taste and adjust the seasoning. To serve, carve the pork into thick slices, discarding strings, and arrange them overlapping on a platter. Spoon over the sauce and decorate with rosemary sprigs.

GETTING AHEAD: Pot roasts reheat wonderfully well. When done, leave meat and juices in the pot and store in the refrigerator up to 2 days. Reheat it in a 350°F/180°C/Gas 4 oven, allowing 25-35 minutes.

^ Top