Portugal's PGI suckling-pig roast — a 6 kg piglet butterflied at the spine, seasoned with garlic-and-lard pesto, and roasted on a wood-fired clay-oven spit until the skin is glassy crackling. The signature dish of central Portugal.
Serves 10 to 12Prep 1 hrCook 3 hr
What to ask for
This recipe calls for Leitão da Bairrada. Can't get it where you are?
Ingredients & method
Ingredients
1 suckling pig (6 to 8 kg), butterflied at the spine
200 g pork lard, softened
1 whole head of garlic (about 12 cloves), finely minced
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon dried piri-piri or red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves, finely crumbled
150 ml dry white wine
Orange slices and crusty bread, to serve
Method
1Make the pesto: pound the garlic, salt, pepper, piri-piri, and bay leaves to a paste in a mortar. Work in the lard until smooth.
2Score the skin of the piglet in a 3 cm crosshatch on the back and shoulders, cutting just into the fat. Rub the pesto generously into all the cuts and over the inside of the cavity.
3Place the piglet skin-up on a rack set over a deep roasting pan. Pour the wine and 250 ml water into the pan beneath. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature.
4Preheat the oven to 160 °C (325 °F). Tent the ears and tail with foil to prevent burning.
5Roast for 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices.
6Increase the temperature to 220 °C (430 °F). Remove the foil from the ears. Roast a further 30 to 45 minutes until the skin blisters into golden crackling.
7Rest 15 minutes. Quarter and serve in pieces with orange slices, sparkling Bairrada wine, and bread to dip in the juices.
Cook this well
$$ · roasts, smokers, and long cooks
Track a brisket overnight without opening the lid
Monitoring large cuts where opening the smoker or oven would cost heat.
Affiliate links — CarneAtlas may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.See all recommended gear
Chef's tip True Leitão is roasted in a wood-fired clay oven — domestic ovens get most of the way there. The skin must be bone-dry going into the high-heat phase or it won't crackle.
Cook this later?Save the recipe, then keep notes on what worked and what you'd change next time.
