Oven-roasted pork rack, a classic of Italian cuisine. A simple recipe with few ingredients and a few small precautions, it yields juicy and very tender meat.
Over the years I’ve learned that the real secret of this roast is to respect the meat and cooking times. It’s a great main course to prepare for holidays or to include in the Easter Menu, also try pot roast or oven-roasted pork.
For my recipes I always start with the raw ingredient: I choose a rack that is not too lean, a light layer of external fat is what protects the meat during cooking and keeps it moist. If I can, I get it from my trusted butcher and ask for a fairly large piece, because these cuts suffer the oven less.
Room-temperature resting is another trick I never skip: I take the rack out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Cold meat put straight into the oven tends to stiffen, while starting from a more even temperature helps achieve gentle and even cooking.
Before roasting, I rub the meat well with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary — nothing elaborate, because pork already has a flavor that deserves to be enhanced, not covered.
This step also helps create a fragrant crust on the surface.
I roast it in a conventional oven at 320–338°F, basting it occasionally with its cooking juices. If I see it drying out too much, I add a little hot broth or white wine — the steam helps keep the meat tender. Now I’ll leave you to the recipe, don’t forget to follow me on my social pages Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 202.74 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 11.60 (g) of which sugars 0.60 (g)
- Proteins 22.79 (g)
- Fat 7.44 (g) of which saturated 0.06 (g)of which unsaturated 0.03 (g)
- Fibers 1.43 (g)
- Sodium 535.23 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 140 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 28 oz pork rack
- 1 sprig rosemary
- to taste garlic powder
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- to taste vegetable broth
- Half glass white wine
- 4 potatoes
How to make the oven-roasted pork rack
Take the meat and season it with salt, pepper, garlic and oil. Tie it with kitchen twine, not because the roast might fall apart, but to keep the aromatics well attached to the meat.
At this point, sear the meat on all sides in a nonstick pan with a drizzle of olive oil.
Transfer the rack to a baking dish along with the potatoes already seasoned and roast in the oven at 356°F for about 15 minutes.
Baste the meat with vegetable broth and cover the bones of the meat with aluminum foil, then return to the oven for another 40 minutes or so.
Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes covered with aluminum foil.
Slice and serve with the potatoes.
Storage and tips for the oven-roasted pork rack
An essential trick is never to pierce it during cooking: no forks, only spoons to baste it so you don’t puncture the fibers and lose the juices.
Final resting: This is perhaps the most underrated step, but it’s sacred. Once out of the oven, I cover the rack with a sheet of aluminum foil and let it rest for 10–15 minutes before slicing. This way the juices redistribute and the meat stays tender slice after slice.
