Crown Roast of Pork with Sausage and Herb Stuffing
 


Ingredients:
1 Crown roast of pork with -16 chops, about 6 LB
Salt & freshly ground pepper

Sausage and Herb Stuffing:
1/4 c Unsalted butter
1 lg. Yellow onion -- minced
1 lg. Celery stalk -- in 1/4" dice
2 Garlic clove -- minced
1/2 LB Bulk sweet pork sausage -crumbled
2 1/2 c Fresh herbed bread crumbs -(recipe follows)
1 Egg -- well beaten
1/4 c Chicken stock -- approx. Salt & freshly ground pepper

Herbed Bread Crumbs:
4 SL White bread
1 p.n. Salt
1 p.n. Freshly ground pepper
1/4 ts Chopped fresh thyme -- or 1/8 ts Dried thyme
1/4 ts Chopped fresh rosemary -- or 1/8 ts Dried rosemary

Method:
Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 400~. Set crown roast on a rack in roasting pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered, on middle rack for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 32 and, basting frequently with pan juices, continue roasting for 45 minutes.

Sausage and Herb Stuffing: In a large frying pan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add onion and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and sausage and cook, stirring, until sausage is browned, about 10 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage mixture to a bowl. Discard the fat in the pan. Add bread crumbs and egg to sausage mixture. Add enough chicken stock j to moisten the stuffing, the season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well Mound stuffing in center of crown roast and return roast to oven. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast away from bone registers 150~ or a chop is pale pink when cut in the center, about 3 minutes longer. (Check periodically and cover the rib ends with foil if they brown before the meat is done). Remove roast from oven, cover with a large piece of foil and let stand 10 minutes before carving. To serve, cut meat between rib bones. Accompany each serving with a spoonful of stuffing. Serves 6 - 8.

Herbed Bread Crumbs: The best bread to use is a coarse-textured white bread that can be purchased sliced in 1- or 1-1/2-pound loaves.

Cut the crust off bread and discard. Tear bread into pieces. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade or in a blender, combine bread, salt a pepper. Process bread until it forms coarse crumbs. Add thyme and rosemary and pulse a few times just until well mixed. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 year. Makes about 1 cup. (You will need to triple this recipe for use with Sausage and Herb Stuffing)