Mushroom, fennel and paprika-stuffed pork leg (in loving memory of Karina)

Karina was somewhat camera-shy, and by the time she was
all dressed up with stuffing, everyone had forgotten
 about photographs. This is Kim and some of her last litter of
piglets, all of whom hope to be just like Karina when
 they grow up.

1 leg pork, boned, skin on

1/2 small red onion, diced finely
1 pork, fennel and paprika sausage*, casing removed
1 rasher bacon, finely chopped
100 grams breadcrumbs

1/2 t salt

black pepper

1 egg

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 T butter


Combine breadcrumbs, egg, red onion, salt, pepper bacon, and sausage meat. Sauté mushrooms in butter, until just softened, and add to the breadcrumb mix. Mix thoroughly using a strong plastic spatula, chopping the mushrooms into smaller pieces as you go.

Place stuffing mixture inside pork leg, rolling the pork leg around the stuffing. Tie together with string (this is more difficult than it sounds), and place in a roasting dish with about 1cm water in the bottom of the roasting dish. Bake at 150 - 175°C (depending on how much time you have) until pork is cooked, about 2 to 3 hours, depending on the size of your leg of pork. Make sure there is always a bit of water in the bottom of your pan, to keep the pork nice and moist.

Serve with pumpkin and some nice, fresh, green vegetables, and then do your very best to get someone else to clean the roasting pan (thanks, Trusty Sidekick, for volunteering so selflessly).

*we have refined the sausage recipe again; for every 1kg pork mince, add 1t fennel seeds, 1t salt, 1t coarsely ground pepper, 2.25T paprika, 81g breadcrumbs. Thanks to Ken (wood) for providing the original  sausage flavour.