Portuguese Style Roast Pork with a Citrus Marinade

Such a long time since I cooked this, but it is so good cold as well as hot, perfect now the days are getting warmer and we will be eating more salads.

The recipe for this comes from a brilliant book of Portuguese Homestyle Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins that I have had for a long time, this and some other pork and beef roast recipes are delicious in their use of citrus juice, wine and vinegar as a marinade.

For this, I took the rind of a small pork loin joint, popped it fat side down in a small roasting tray, and rubbed it all over with garlic paste and a little salt - either ready made or just pound a couple of cloves with salt in a mortar and use the resulting paste. Then pour over the juice of an orange and a lemon, about half a wine glass of wine or sherry and a good glug of wine vinegar. Put this in the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours.

When it is ready to cook, top with a chopped tomato (or several cherry tomatoes, whatever you have to hand) and dot all over with butter.

Roast in a hot oven for normal pork cooking time of 25 mins per pound or until juices run pale pink or clear with you test it with a skewer.  Let it rest for a few minutes whilst you deglaze the pan with a little water (I used some of the water from cooking the rice), and then serve cut in thick slices with rice and a salad.