Bavarian Roast Pork - Krustenbraten

Instructions

1. PREPARE: Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Use a very sharp knife (a box cutter is excellent for this) to score the skin of the pork in a diamond pattern. Rub the pork generously with the salt, paprika and pepper then set aside.

2. SEAR THE MEAT: In an oven-proof pan or casserole, heat the oil and butter over a medium heat until the butter has melted and is foaming. Brown the pork on all sides, cooking 2-3 minutes per side without moving. Browning the meat with butter over a medium heat will prevent the paprika from burning. Remove the pork from the pan and set aside in a bowl to catch any juices..

3. COOK THE VEGETABLES: Add the carrots, leek, celeriac or celery, garlic and caraway seeds to the pan and cook gently for 5 minutes, until beginning to soften. Pour in the vegetable stock to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spatula to scrape up all the browned on flavour.

4. ROAST THE PORK: Return the pork to the pan skin side down. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then turn the meat skin side up and pour the beer into the pan. Roast a further 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the meat is cooked through. It should register 70°C / approx. 160°F on a meat thermometer.

5. MAKE THE GRAVY: When the meat has cooked, remove it from the oven and turn the broiler/grill to high. Place the pork in an ovenproof dish, then pour the roasting juices through a sieve into a small saucepan, pressing down on the vegetables to extract all the juices.

6. SEASON AND THICKEN THE GRAVY: Stir in the tomato paste and sugar and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary If you’d like to thicken the dark beer sauce, stir the cornstarch into a little bit of cold water until smooth, then add to the pan, stirring until thickened. Keep warm.

7. CRISP THE PORK SKIN: To crisp the skin of the pork, return the pork to the middle of the oven. Keep a good eye on it as the skin will begin to crackle and pop very quickly. When it has reached the desired crispness (5-7 minutes), remove it from the oven.

8. SERVE: Slice the pork and serve on warmed plates. Traditionally Krustenbraten is served with potato dumplings (Knödel) but it is also delicious with mashed potato.