Rolled Pig's Head Recipe - Great British Chefs

Rolled pig's head with langoustine and a crispy ear salad

Starter
challenging
4
5 hours, 12 hours setting time

PT5H

PT12H

A signature dish of The Kitchin restaurant, this pork and langoustine recipe requires a fair amount of patience and finesse, as well as some butchery skills. Rest assured though, it is well worth the effort.

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Ingredients

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Metric

Imperial

2 pig's ears

Rolled pig's head

1 pig's head
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 white onion, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 tsp herbes de Provence
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp fennel seeds
salt
pepper
olive oil

Tomato concasse

5 plum tomatoes
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 sprig of fresh thyme
salt
pepper

Sauce Gribiche

6 free-range eggs
1 tsp Dijon mustard
25ml of white wine vinegar
250ml of vegetable oil
1 tbsp of capers, chopped
1 tbsp of gherkins, chopped
1 tbsp of parsley, chopped
salt

To serve

12 langoustines
80g of mixed salad leaves
olive oil
salt
pepper

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Blow torch
Muslin cloth

To prepare the pig's head, remove all the excess hair with a blow torch. Using a very sharp knife, cut all the way down the middle of the head to the snout. Cut away the meat keeping it attached to the skin

1 pig's head

Remove the ears and tie the head together with string, place into a large pan with the vegetables and cover with water, cook for one hour

2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 white onion, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of fresh thyme

Wrap the ears in muslin and add to the pan with the head cook for another 4 hours

If necessary, top up with water during the cooking process to ensure the contents are completely covered. After the 5 hours cooking time, remove the ears from the pan and allow the head to cool in the cooking liquor

Trim the muscles from the ears and tightly wrap in clingfilm. Press under a weight in the fridge overnight.

While still slightly warm, remove the cheeks from the head and separate the fat and meat from the skin. Discard the fat. Roll a piece of clingfilm out onto a chopping board and lay the skin outer side down.

Shred the meat from the cheeks into a bowl and mix with the herbs, cumin, fennel and a pinch of salt and pepper

Place an even line of shredded cheek mixture in the middle of the skin and roll into a tight sausage, approximately 6cm in diameter. Wrap tightly in the cling film and leave to set in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight

Preheat the oven to 170˚C/gas mark 3. Use a sharp knife to shred the ears into very fine strips. Place a frying pan over a medium-high-heat and add the olive oil

olive oil

Spread the pig's ears evenly into the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes, then place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they start to sizzle and crisp up

Remove from the oven, place on absorbent kitchen towel and store in a warm place until required

During the time that the ears are setting, prepare the tomato concasse. Blanch and peel the tomatoes. Cut into quarters and remove the seeds. Add to a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat with the garlic and thyme

20 plum tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, peeled
2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Cook for 1 1/2 hours until the tomatoes have broken down and reduced to 1/3 of the original volume. Season to taste with salt and pepper, remove from the pan and set aside to cool

salt
pepper

For the sauce gribiche, hard boil the eggs in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain and place in cold water to cool. Peel and finely chop the eggs and set aside

6 free-range eggs

In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard and vinegar. Add the vegetable oil in a steady, thin stream - whisking continuously until completely emulsified. Mix in the capers, gherkins, parsley and a pinch of salt. Store in the fridge until ready to use - the sauce will keep for 2-3 days

1 tsp Dijon mustard
25ml of white wine vinegar
250ml of vegetable oil
1 tbsp of capers, chopped
1 tbsp of gherkins, chopped
1 tbsp of parsley
salt

Slice the pigs head into 3cm rounds and fry until crispy

To cook the langoustines, peel and remove all the shell apart from the tail. Use a knife to gently scrape away and remove the intestinal tract from the back of the langoustine

12 langoustines

Add a dash of olive oil to a heavy based frying pan. Season the langoustines with salt and pepper and fry in the hot pan for 1-2 minutes, until slightly golden and just cooked through

olive oil
salt
pepper

To serve, place a few salad leave and a spoon of sauce Gribiche in the middle of the plate. Put a piece of pigs head on top and garnish with the tomato concasse. Scatter around the crisp pigs ears and serve with the langoustines.

80g of mixed salad leaves

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Tom Kitchin

Tom Kitchin thrived under some of the most demanding chefs in the world to eventually open up his own restaurant and become one of Scotland’s most revered chefs.