This is a great dish by Rob Rossi and Craig Harding to serve family style at home and with minimal prep. Once everything goes into the oven to slow roast, you can relax and kick back with your friends and family.
With all the dishes created on Open Fire, it always starts with fresh and local ingredients that can be easily adapted to your kitchen at home. In this case, the dish works just as well if prepared in a home oven with the pork loin resting in the middle of a roasting pan with the squash and apples nestled all around it.
Slow roasting a large cut on the bone keeps it juicy while the fresh herb rub on the pork adds tons of flavour as it cooks and gets crispy in an oven. The rub really elevates the dish to a whole other level!
Ingredients
- 4-6 Bone Frenched Pork Rack
- 3 Buttercup or 1 Butternut Squash
- 2 Honey Crisp Apples
- Butter/Olive Oil
- Sage
- Cinnamon Stick
For the Spice Rub…
- 1 Tbsp of Fennel Seeds
- 1 Tbsp of Chopped Thyme
- 1 Tbsp of Rosemary
- 4 Cloves of Minced Garlic
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 Cup of Olive Oil
- Generous Salt & Pepper to cover the Pork Rack
Instructions for Pork Rack with Roasted Butternut Squash
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and place a cast iron pan on medium heat on the stove top.
- Quarter both the apples and squash and remove the seeds but leave the skin on.
- Score the outer fat cap of the pork and rub the spice mix thoroughly over. Season generously with Salt & Pepper.
- Place the pork in the pan with a splash of olive oil and brown on all sides. Add the quartered squash and apples and put in the oven fat side up, uncovered for approximately 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 150 F.
- After 30 min remove from the oven and place 4 Tbsp of diced butter with 1 cinnamon stick and ½ bunch of sage. Stir the veg place back in the oven.
- Once internal temperature is reached remove from oven and cover with foil for 20 minutes before slicing. Internal temp should reach 160 F.
- Slice pork, season with a touch of flakey sea salt and arrange the veg on a platter. Drizzle some pan juices and butter over top.
- Enjoy Rob and Craig’s Pork Rack with Roasted Butternut Squash!
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