Those not watching their weight can be as greedy as they like with the crackling. For everyone else, the deliciously juicy meat can also be served without it.
Finely score the pork skin. Sprinkle generously with salt 1-2hr before cook- ing and leave at room temperature.
Step 2
Wipe the salt off the skin, massage in a little olive oil and sprinkle again with salt. Quarter, core and roughly chop 450g (1lb) apples and put in a small roasting tin. Sit the pork on top and roast at 220°C (425°F) mark 7 for 30min. Reduce the temperature to 190°C (375°F) mark 5 and calculate 1hr cooking time for every 1kg (21⁄4lb). Donʼt baste or the crackling will be leathery. To test if the pork is cooked, pierce the thickest part with a skewer - the juices should run clear.
Step 3
Peel, quarter, core and thickly slice remaining apples. Put in a pan with the sugar and 2tbsp water, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until just soft and the apple begins to break down. Check for sweetness and put to one side.
Step 4
Once cooked, lift the pork out of the roasting tin and put to one side while pre- paring the gravy. Skim off most of the fat leaving about 1tbsp and the apples in the tin. Stir in the flour to form a smooth paste, pour in the stock, blend together and bring to the boil. Bubble gently for 2-3min, skimming if necessary. Strain the gravy, pushing through as much of the apple as possible. Serve with roast potatoes and freshly cooked vegetables.
When you buy your pork joint, ask the butcher to score the skin for you - with their big, super-sharp knives they can do it in the blink of an eye, whereas it's a little more time-consuming to do at home.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
