Look no further, this is the ultimate recipe you need to prepare the best suckling pig in the oven, juicy And tender and with super crunchy skin. Follow the step by step to cook suckling pig at home in a simple way, you will see that very few ingredients are needed and the result is fantastic, achieving very tender meat with its characteristic and mild flavor. You will also see how to prepare a simple potato and vegetable garnish that goes perfectly with this meat, accompanying it without taking away from it.
Ingredients to prepare the best roast suckling pig, juicy and with super crispy skin (6-8 people):
- 1 suckling pig of 4 kg is ideal for 6 people. It is very important that you buy it of good quality and from a trusted producer, ideally from Segovia.
- A few sprigs of rosemary (optional)
- Water.
- Salt.
- As a garnish, I have prepared some potatoes and vegetables:
- Small potatoes, 3 per person. They are usually found as garnish potatoes.
- Shallots or French onions. I have used shallots, also 2 or 3 per person.
- A bunch of green asparagus.
- A sprig of rosemary.
- Olive oil and salt.
Preparation, how to make the recipe for the best baked suckling pig, juicy and with super crispy skin:
- Traditionally the pig It is roasted in a clay pot and ideally in a wood oven, but preparing it at home with what we have closest to hand is also incredible and is more practical and accessible.
- Use the tray that would come with your oven to roast the suckling pig or the largest one you can use.
- There is one very important thing and that is to prevent the suckling pig from touching the baking tray with its skin because it could get stuck and it would be a shame in order to get that uniform and crispy skin. There are those who place wooden or similar palettes in the bottom so that the suckling pig rests on them during baking, and also those who put baking paper. I have combined both so that the suckling pig does not touch the oven tray but also that it is a little higher so that it cooks better. (By the way, when I do this the wooden paddles get all the smell of the grill and what I do is keep them in the dishwasher for 4 or 5 washes, without taking them out, so they look good again).
- Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes at 180ºC with heat above and below, without a fan.
- You can aromatize to your liking, in my case I have only put some fresh rosemary sprigs. Thyme is also great and some even use garlic. Personally I don’t like the touch of garlic, it changes the aroma and flavor of the meat quite a bit and I think that it is not the intention that is sought for such spectacular meat in itself.
- place the pig above, which should be open. Don’t worry if the legs stick out, you can already accommodate them inside your oven and, if necessary, line some part with baking paper so that they don’t get stuck.
- Give it a little Salt inside.
- check out Water in the bottom of the baking tray. I usually use 1 liter and I try to get the wooden pallets practically covered.
- And don’t do like me, wait until you wrap the legs, ears and tail with aluminum foil in the second part of baking because if you wrap them already the paper will stick quite a bit.
- Insert the tray with the pig in the oven and roast it for 1 hour and a half.
- When the time is up, remove the suckling pig from the oven. Normally, that visible part is already golden, as you can see in the photograph below.
- Now it’s time to turn it around. It is not an easy task because the pig It is heavy and hot, it is a bit slippery but above all the complexity lies in the fact that it is so tender that with any movement you can open it in some area. Ideally, you should put on comfortable kitchen gloves and little by little turn it over on the tray itself until it is settled. Now it’s time to leave it well accommodated inside it and maybe you have to do as I did and break the legs a bit to make them fit, don’t worry, this does not affect the final result. Likewise, if the skin has opened a bit as it happened to me, it is not a problem.
- Now is the time to wrap the earsthe end of the paws and the tail with aluminum foil, because if you do it before like me (my fault), then they will be very stuck. This is done to prevent those areas from burning.
- Take advantage of this moment to see if there is any water left in the tray since there should always be so that the suckling pig roasts perfectly. If there is little left you can always add more.
- again the pig in the oven to roast for another hour and a half.
- Take advantage of this moment to prepare the Garrison. Ideally, it should be simple and not take away from it, so the ideal is to prepare a good salad or some potatoes and vegetables as I have done.
- wash the potatoes with water and cook them, for this you can do it in the classic way in a pot with enough Water enough to cover the potatoes and a dessert spoonful of Salt over high heat and when it boils add the potatoes and cook them for 20 minutes or until you can pierce them and they are tender. You can too cook potatoes in the microwave putting them in a microwave-safe container or wrapped in plastic wrap and cook at maximum power for 10 minutes, as I did. Prick them a little and if they are not tender, give them a few more minutes until they are.
- Peel the shallots and also cook them in the microwave for just 1 minute and a half. If you don’t want to cook them like this, you can also simply skip them afterwards.
- When you have the potatoes cooked, peel them (if they are very hot you can do it with a knife and fork) and put them in a wide frying pan with a little oil Y Salt over low heat, together with the shallots and a twig of rosemary.
- Go turning them every 5 minutes and cook them until they have a golden touch on both sides.
- wash the asparagus and cut off the final and toughest part of the stem. Wash them with cold water and drain them.
- Sauté them in a pan at a high temperature with a little oil Y Salt for 5 minutes or until golden and to your liking.
- Both the potatoes with the shallots and the asparagus can be easily reheated while you are starting to serve the suckling pig once it is baked.
- When the roasting time of the pigremove the tray from the oven.
- Now the traditional thing is to cut it with a plate since this is how crunchy the skin is and how tender the meat inside is. For 6 or 8 people you can cut it perfectly with the plate, first in the middle from the tail to the head, giving dry blows, and then make three or four cuts with the plate to obtain 6 or 8 parts (the head apart). Remove the aluminum foil.
Time: 3 hours
difficulty: easy
Serve and taste:
Freshly made is how it should arrive at the table, still steaming. Serve it on the diners’ plates along with the potatoesthe shallots and the asparagus. Pick up the juices from the baking tray and serve them on the table but never put them on top of the suckling pig because the skin would stop being crispy and that’s a shame, what can be done is spread those juices over the plate and between the garnish, and Go dipping the meat in them. By the way! The area of the head, especially the ears, the neck, the cheeks and the muzzle are a delicacy, so do not stop eating them.
For me it is one of the best meats that can be eaten, the combination of that extra crunchy, almost flaky skinand the meat that could not be more tender and with a mild flavor, is a true delicacy. Enjoy this bite of authentic… scandal!
Variants of the recipe for the best baked suckling pig, juicy and with super crispy skin:
It can season as preferred although I am in favor of seasoning very little because the meat itself has such a particular flavor that it does not need more. If you prefer to give it a different touch, use other herbs such as thyme or oregano and you can even paint it inside with a mashed garlic, parsley and salt.
The garnishes that it admits are very diverse, although personally I do not like to suggest a garnish that needs to be baked because the oven will be completely occupied with the suckling pig. pick a good one saladopt for vegetables by preparing some delicious grilled vegetablesnail glazed french onions or the traditional machego ratatouilleor opt for the classic homemade mashed potatoes waves potatoes to the poor with onion and peppers.
Tips:
If you use a quality suckling pig, success is guaranteed. Try to avoid frozen suckling pigs or those whose origin you do not know, if they are from Segovia it is a guarantee of quality.
This same recipe is used to prepare half a suckling pig, keeping the same times. And if you use a more or less large suckling pig, keep an eye on it a bit in the oven to try to make it perfectly done but not burn. It’s also not okay to take them out of the oven before the skin is crisp. You can check this by opening the oven and hitting the skin with a spoon, if it seems that you are going to go through the skin because a thin and crunchy layer is intuited, it is already done.
