Pork Crown Roast With Chestnut-Rye Stuffing Recipe

beauty shot of cooked crown pork roast — Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe

Prep Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Total Time:

3 hrs 15 mins

Servings:

A holiday dinner is your chance to pull out all the stops, and this pork crown roast is the majestic centerpiece you need. Two racks of pork are attached end-to-end to form a crown. (Sure, you can special order your cleaned and trimmed racks already tied, but why let the butcher have all the fun?) Once you fill the roast with savory chestnut-rye stuffing and pop it into the oven, you can rest easy until it's time to whip up the gravy and wait for your guests to arrive. When they do, they'll be dazzled by your delicious feast.

Special Order

Eight-chop racks of pork for a crown roast aren't a standard supermarket item, so order them several days ahead of time. Ask the butcher to remove the chine bone, trim excess fat, and french (clean) the bones.

Cutting a Cooked Crown Roast of Pork

Cutting a cooked crown pork roast to serve is not difficult.

What you need: a large, sturdy cutting board, meat fork, and sharp chef’s knife.

Place the cooked roast on a cutting board.
Using a meat fork to steady the roast and a chefs knife to slice in between each rib and the ribs will easily separate.

Only slice as many chops as you expect will be eaten; leftovers keep better if kept as a crown.

Slicing at the Table

Cutting a roast at the table is impressive but if you prefer to portion the roast in the kitchen, consider bringing the plated roast out for your guests to see. Then go back into the kitchen and slice it.

Directions

Partially separate chops:

Place pork racks, fat side down, on a work surface. Cut a third of the way through flesh between each rib bone. This will allow racks to fan open into a crown shape (see step 3).

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Thread end chops:

Position racks as shown, fat sides touching and bones upright. Thread a trussing needle with cotton kitchen twine and horizontally run it through meat just below last rib bone on 1 rack and straight through meat of opposite chop.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Tie end chops:

Tie chops together as tightly as possible to form a half circle, or half of the crown. Then repeat process on other end of racks to finish the crown. (You can also use this technique on racks of lamb.)

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Tie bones together:

Where racks are joined, tie rib bones together. At this point, you can store the crown roast, uncovered, in the refrigerator 1 day. Bring to room temperature before continuing, about 1 hour.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Preheat oven and season crown:

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lower third. Place roast on a flat rack set inside a roasting pan; season with salt. Stir together garlic, sage, orange zest, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; spread all over roast. Let stand 30 minutes.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Prepare stuffing:

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and celery with salt until translucent, 3 minutes. Add sage and wine; boil to reduce by half, 2 minutes. Toss with bread, chestnuts, parsley, broth, and juice. Fold in eggs.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Stuff crown and roast:

Fill crown and roast with 6 cups stuffing; roast 30 minutes. (Tent with foil once stuffing browns.) Reduce heat to 375°F; roast until a thermometer inserted down between bones into thickest part of flesh reaches 140°F, 1 hour. Transfer to a board; let rest 20 minutes.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Bake remaining stuffing and make gravy:

While cooked roast rests, bake remaining stuffing at 375°F in a buttered baking dish until brown, 20 minutes. Tilt roasting pan; skim fat from drippings. Place pan across 2 burners over medium-high heat. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Add 1 1/4 cups broth; return to a boil. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup broth and flour, and pour into pan, whisking, until thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in butter and accumulated juices from roast, and strain.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe
Cut roast into chops and serve:

After the crown roast has rested, transfer to a serving platter. Remove all twine. Garnish with sage and kumquats. Use a carving knife to cut roast between each rib for individual chops, and serve with stuffing and gravy.

Credit:
Courtesy of Ryan Liebe