Roast Pork with Fennel
Unless you live where fennel grows wild, you may not yet be able to find the fennel pollen traditionally used in this recipe. Chopped fennel seeds are an ideal substitute.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 450°. In a small bowl, combine the bay leaves with the garlic, fennel pollen and rosemary. Stir in the salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the wine. Rub the marinade over the pork and tie the roast at 1-inch intervals with kitchen string.
- Set the roast on a rack in a medium roasting pan and cook for 30 minutes, basting with the remaining wine every 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° and roast for another 30 minutes, basting periodically. Turn the oven down to 300° and roast for 1 hour longer, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 145°. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove and discard the strings.
- Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a small saucepan and skim off as much of the fat as possible. Rewarm the pan juices and season with salt and pepper. Thinly slice the pork and arrange on a platter or plates. Drizzle with the pan juices and serve.
Wine Recommendation: Pork can often be matched with a red or a white, but the rosemary and fennel rub on this succulent roast suggests a flavorful, full-bodied white. Both Mastroberardino's 1997 Fiano di Avellino Radici and its 1997 Greco di Tufo have the requisite richness.
Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Food & Wine Magazine
Copyright © American Express Publishing Corporation. All Rights Reserved
THE PERFECT ACCOMPANIMENT TO THIS RECIPE
Peruvian Organic