Slow-Roast Suckling Pig Shoulder with Bramley Apple Purée and Crackling Shards

⏱ 330 min · Serves 6

A show-stopping centrepiece: a whole suckling pig shoulder roasted low and slow until the meat collapses at the touch of a spoon, its skin lifted, dried and blasted into glassy amber shards. Sharp Bramley apple purée and a cider-thyme pan jus cut clean through the richness. Restaurant-grade, and entirely doable in a home oven over a weekend afternoon.

Per serving: 762 kcal · 58.0g protein · 22.0g carbs · 48.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1 suckling pig shoulder, bone-in, skin on (approx. 3–3.5kg), from a good butcher
• 3 tbsp flaky sea salt, plus extra for the crackling
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
• 2 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
• 6 garlic cloves, bruised
• 6 sprigs thyme, plus 2 extra for the jus
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 onions, thickly sliced
• 2 carrots, halved lengthways
• 400ml dry cider
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 500g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 Cox or Braeburn apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 30g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Watercress, to serve

Method

1. The night before: run a sharp knife under the skin at one edge of the shoulder and carefully peel the skin off in one sheet, leaving a thin layer of fat on the meat. Lay the skin flat on a rack, scrape off excess fat with a spoon, rub with 1 tbsp salt, and leave uncovered in the fridge to dry out overnight. Rub the meat with the remaining salt, crushed fennel and pepper and refrigerate uncovered too.
2. Next day, heat the oven to 150C fan / 170C conventional. Scatter onions, carrots, garlic, thyme sprigs and bay in a deep roasting tin. Pat the meat dry, rub with oil and sit it on the vegetables. Pour in the cider and stock.
3. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 4 hours, basting every hour, until a skewer slides through with no resistance and the meat pulls away from the bone.
4. Meanwhile, make the purée: put both types of apple in a pan with the butter, sugar and 2 tbsp water. Cover and cook gently for 15–20 minutes until collapsing. Blitz until glass-smooth, then push through a fine sieve. Season with a pinch of salt and the cider vinegar. Keep warm.
5. Lift the pork out, tent with foil and rest for 30 minutes. Strain the pan juices into a pan, skim off the fat, add 2 thyme sprigs and reduce by half to a glossy jus. Whisk in the Dijon and check seasoning.
6. Turn the oven up to 220C fan. Rinse the salt off the dried skin, pat bone dry, lay flat between two sheets of baking paper and sandwich between two baking trays. Roast 25 minutes, then remove the top tray and paper and roast a further 10–15 minutes, watching closely, until puffed, blistered and deep gold. Drain on kitchen paper, salt lightly and snap into long shards.
7. Pull the pork into large, generous pieces, discarding any sinew. Pile onto a warm platter, spoon over some jus and spike with crackling shards.
8. Serve with a swoosh of apple purée on each plate, the remaining jus in a jug, and a handful of watercress for freshness.