If I’ve learned anything over the years of feeding, growing, and harvesting the variety of animals that we raise to feed the family, it’s that I have a much greater respect for the food we eat.

When you’ve put in the work all on your own, start to finish, the desire grows inside of you to honor that hard work and that animal’s life.

I often find myself hesitating as I reach into the freezers, even though they are filled to the brim with so many incredible selections. And I know it’s because sooo much time, effort, money, love…goes into the animals who have provided those things for us. I just don’t want to waste a thing.

And I want whatever I create from whatever portion I am eating to be as delicious as possible.

Today’s portion is a modest rib roast from one of our spoiled, happy pigs.

Which in turn creates spoiled, happy humans.

And it most certainly meets the aim of deliciousness with the abundant stuffing of garlic, smoky seasoning, and mouth-watering juiciness.

(This post contains affiliate links)

Garlic Stuffed Pork Rib Roast

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pound pork rib roast
• 2 tablespoons meat stock/broth (chicken, beef, pork- whatever you have)
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon Spanish paprika
• 6-8 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• chopped fresh herbs

Directions:

Make a cut right next to the ribs, top to bottom, cutting halfway through (also known as making a butterfly cut). This will open up the roast, giving it the appearance of a butterfly.

Use your hands to rub the entire roast inside and out with the stock. Sprinkle liberally with salt (approx. 2 Tablespoons), inside and out, then season with pepper. Open up the roast and sprinkle with half of the paprika, spreading it evenly over the inside. Pick one side to layer evenly the garlic slices; overlapping them slightly. Toss in a few pinches of fresh herbs of your choice- whatever you have on hand! Good choices are thyme, parsley, or sage. Close the roast. Season the outside with the rest of the paprika.

Using twine, tie up the roast between each rib before securing with twine lengthwise.

As you can see here, a partial layer of skin was left on our roast. You can do that too if you wish, to help secure moisture and give you amazing crispy, buttery skin to enjoy with your roast. Hair and all.

Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for 24 hours. Allow to sit at room temperature for an hour before cooking.

Place your prepared roast onto a rack in a roasting pan. I discovered that my kids apparently wandered off with my rack and had to last-minute improvise with some lengths of crumbled foil to keep my roast off the bottom of the pan. Whatever works.

Heat your oven to 375 degrees and roast uncovered for 40 minutes. Lower heat to 300 degrees and roast for another 1 1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 145 degrees (insert thermometer away from the bone, in the thickest part of the roast). Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing between each rib.

Serve and enjoy.

Adapted from “In the Charcuterie”, by Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller.

This post contains affiliate links. What this means is I link to a product on Amazon (that I love, use, and/or recommend), and if you decide it’s something you want, I will receive a small monetary compensation with no cost to you- just because you used my link! This helps support my blogging activities and I thank you. Homestead on, my friends.