Slowly cooked stuffed roast piglet

A delicious recipe for Christmas or New Year (although it demands time and patience) with the piglet meat melting in your mouth because of the slow cooking! Ask your butcher to prepare the piglet for you so to be easier to stuff it by opening the belly up. You could also ask to break the spine and take off the legs (from the knee down) so it can fit in the oven pan easier. You can also keep the piglet's liver to add it in the stuffing

Recipe of Nena Ismyrnoglou

"Gastronomos" magazine of "KATHIMERINI" newspaper (2009)

Ingredients (for 8-10 people)

For the marinade:
1 whole piglet (about 8-10Kg), preferably with the head on
3 tbsp of dry rosemary, well crushed
3 tbsp of coarse salt
black pepper
2 lemons, cut in half
1 lemon, the zest
1/3 tea-cup of lemon juice
2 unwaxed oranges, the zest and the juice
1/4 tea-cup of honey
1/4 tea-cup of mustard (of your choice)
1/4 tea-cup of olive oil
1 tbsp of juniper berries

For the stuffing:
1/2 tea-cup of olive oil
4 onions, finely chopped
the liver of the piglet, finely chopped
4 tea-cups of dried apricots + prunes, finely chopped
1 tea-cup of chestnuts, boiled and finely chopped
1 quince, peeled and grated
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1/2 tsp of ground allspice
1/2 a head of nutmeg, finely grated
2½ tea-cups of orange juice
salt
pepper

For the sauce:
600ml of water
100ml vodka or gin (or Greek tsipouro if you can find)
200ml apple juice
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of juniper berries (or 1 cinnamon stick + 3 whole cloves)
1 tsp of honey
2 cooking apples
2 red sweet apples
1/2 tea-cup of dates, pitted (or blond raisins)
1/2 tsp of ground ginger

Method:
The day before, shave the piglet of any small hair left on. Rinse it well inside and outside under running water and dry thoroughly. Rub the piglet with the lemon halves all over and inside the belly.

In a small bowl put together the rosemary, the salt, 1/2 tbsp of pepper, the lemon and orange zest, 1 tbsp of the honey, 2 tbsp of the lemon juice and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Mix the ingredients very well to blend and have a smooth paste.

With the tip of a sharp knife make narrow and long incisions (3cm deep) all around the piglet's body, leaving a space of 10cm between them. In each incision put some of the herb paste (you must save some) pressing it with your finger so to get through the skin and the flesh as deep as possible.

In the bowl with the remaining herb paste stir in half of the mustard and then brush with it the inside of the piglet's body.

Transfer the piglet on a large oven pan and cover with cling film. Put in the fridge and leave the piglet to marinate all night.

Next day preheat the oven to 180°C and start cooking the stuffing.

In a large saucepan sauté the onions in the oil for 5 minutes in low heat. Add the piglet's liver, the dried fruits, the chestnuts, the quince, the spices, salt and pepper and the orange juice. Cook for 7-8 until the stuffing gets blended.

Take the piglet out of the fridge and stuff its belly with the filling. Seal the opening by sewing with kitchen thread.

Place the oven rack on the second shelf from the bottom and carefully place the piglet on the rack. Place the oven pan on the lowest shelf of the oven (so to gather the juices and the grease off the piglet while it is baking). Add in the pan the juniper berries, the orange juice, the rest of the lemon juice and plenty of water.

Initially cook for 30 minutes. Turn the temperature to 160°C and continue cooking for another 3 1/2 hours.

During cooking, every 20 minutes, baste the piglet with its juices. If the juices in the pan are not enough add some more water.

In the meantime, add in a small bowl the rest of the olive oil, the rest of the mustard and the rest of the honey and mix well. After the 3 1/2 hours brush the piglet with the honey/mustard mixture and continue cooking (at the same temperature) for another 30-45 minutes, until the skin gets crunchy and well coloured.

For the sauce put in a medium saucepan the water, the tsipouro (or vodka or gin), the apple and lemon juice and the juniper berries (or the cinnamon + the cloves). Warm the ingredients in high heat until they come to the boil.

In the meantime, peel all the apples, cut in quarters, core them and add them in the saucepan. Add the dates (or the raisins) and leave the sauce to come to the boil again. Cover the saucepan, turn the heat to medium/low and simmer for 20 minutes, until the apples soften.

Add the ginger, cook for 1 more minute and take off the heat. Put the sauce in a blender and press to a pulp. Then, if you prefer, pass it through a fine sieve so to get a more velvety texture. Cover the sauce and leave it at room temperature until later.

Carefully take the piglet out of the oven and let it stand for about 30-45 minutes before you carve it (see instructions below).

Serve in a large platter along with the sauce and the stuffing in separate bowls.

Note:
You will not have many difficulties to carve the piglet because of the slow and long cooking. The meat is so fluffy and soft and almost falls off the bone. The most meaty pieces are the thighs and the front legs. So, using a large fork and a good sharp knife first take the thighs off the body and cut each one in 2-3 smaller pieces. Do the same with the front legs and place them in a serving platter.

Then make two incisions on the body of the piglet (from the neck down to the tail) on each side of the spine. Get the meat off these two sides and cut into smaller pieces and place them in the serving platter. Using a pair of scissors break the bones of the spine so to free the stuffing which you serve separately in another platter or bowl.