Florentine roast pork

Serves 6 Starters and mains

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Method

Ask your butcher to remove the bone and rind from the pork joint but do not discard. Chop together the garlic and rosemary, add 1⁄2 tablespoon salt and plenty of pepper and mix well. Make small incisions in the pork and push a little of the mixture into each one. Stick the meat with the cloves and rub with half the olive oil.

Pour the remaining oil into a roasting tin. Place the bone in it and spread over half the remaining rosemary mixture. Now place the meat on top of the bone, spread the rest of the rosemary mixture over the meat and cover with the rind. Tie the meat with string and marinate for a few hours, preferably outside the fridge, unless the weather is very hot.

Preheat the oven to 170C/ 325F/Gas 3. Place the tin in the oven and roast for 2 hours, basting and turning the pork every 20 minutes or so, until quite tender. Remove the rind, turn the oven temperature up to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and brown the meat for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wooden board.

Remove as much fat from the roasting juices as you can then add 4 tablespoons hot water to the juices in the roasting tin and boil briskly, scraping any sediment from the bottom of the tin.

Carve the meat into 1cm thick slices, spoon over the cooking juices and serve.