Roasted Pork Loin with all the Trimmings – Apple Sauce, Sage and Mushroom Stuffing, Honey and Mustard Roasted Parsnips and Creamy Leek Sauce

The meat is quite possibly the least technical part of a roast dinner, but you just need to base all your timings around it. Rub your joint in the salt and the oil and cook in a pre-heated 200’C oven for 30 minutes. After this, turn your oven down to 180’C and continue to cook for 45 minutes. After this, remove from the oven, cover and leave to stand for 15 minutes.

I find the best way to manage timings is to set an end goal, so in this case, the meat will take one and a half hours so set your completion time and then base all your timings around this. If it helps you can pre-plan and write down what needs cooking at what time.

The apple sauce can be made at any time, and either served cold with the meat or quickly re-heated before eating. To make this, simply put all the ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer until the apples are mushy and soft.

I find the next in the line of process is the creamy leeks. For this you need to fry the leeks and the onions in the butter over a low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes until soft. In a saucepan, heat the milk until steaming and then stir in the cornflower paste and the stock cube, stirring continually until the sauce has thickened. Once the sauce has thickened so that it coats the back of your spoon, remove from the heat and stir in the mustard. In an oven proof dish, mix together the sauce and the leek mix and then top with grated cheese and a twist of pepper. This will then take 35-40 minutes to cook, until it is bubbling and lovely and golden.

All you need to do with the roast parsnips is mix together honey, oil and mustard and then toss this in an oven-proof dish with the parsnips. These will then take 40-45 minutes to cook, depending on how finely sliced they are.

To make the stuffing, heat the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the onions, mushrooms and garlic until the mixture is all soft. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Whiz the bread and the herbs together in the blender and once your mushroom mix is cooked, combine this together with the remaining ingredients for the stuffing. Get your hands in and bring the mixture together and then shape into 6 balls. The stuffing will then take 25-30 minutes to crisp up in the oven.

Serve up your roast with all the usual trimmings (don’t forget your roast spuds and fresh vegetables.)

Make sure you all have plenty of gravy to serve, and if you want to make your own then simply pour the juices from the pork into a pan and pour in a glass of cider and a tea spoon of wholegrain mustard, and boil off until reduced by half. Stir in a couple of heaped teaspoons of gravy granules and you are onto a winner!