By tradition, in Russia, a whole suckling pig is roasted for a significant event. This dish will decorate any festive table. Piglets are slaughtered at the age of 10-14 days, when they feed only on mother's milk and have a live weight of no more than 7-8 kg.
Suckling pig in the oven
Oven-baked suckling pig turns out to be especially tasty. The gutted carcass is washed, rubbed inside and outside with salt and spices and stuffed. Sauerkraut can be used as a filling.
Rinse cabbage (1 kg) with cold water, squeeze and fry on lard. Add chopped ham (300 g), black pepper and fry for another 5-10 minutes. Fill the prepared pig with the resulting mass, sew up the abdomen with a strong thread.
Grease the carcass on top with fat, paprika, put on a wire rack and put in a hot oven. A baking sheet should be placed under the wire shelf so that the fat drips into it. Bake at 160 ° C for two hours, check the readiness of the meat by piercing it with a knife. If light juice is released, the pig is ready. You can replace sauerkraut with pearl barley or buckwheat porridge.
Pig stuffed with porridge
Suckling pig stuffed with crumbly buckwheat porridge is a traditional dish of Russian cuisine. For cooking, you need dried spices: marjoram, thyme, allspice, 1 teaspoon each, salt to taste. Mix the spices and rub the inside and outside of the piglet and let sit for 30 minutes. Rub the spices into the delicate skin carefully so as not to damage it.
While the meat is marinating, prepare the filling. Pour buckwheat (500 g) with boiling water for a few minutes and set aside. Fry the onions, add 3 hard-boiled and finely chopped eggs (can be replaced with porcini mushrooms), add porridge to them and stuff the pig's belly with this mixture, pull the thread off the cut. Brush the carcass with sour cream or mayonnaise, wrap in foil and place on a baking sheet.
Roast suckling pig for about two hours at 190 ° C. Take out the carcass, remove the foil, return it to the oven for 25-30 minutes so that it becomes golden brown. When serving, line the treat with pickled or pickled vegetables.
If you want to surprise your guests with an original dish, before frying, coat half of the piglet with dough, after it is ready, remove the dough: one side will be tender, white, the other - fried, rosy.
Pig roasted on a spit
Unusually tender, with a crispy crust, it turns out meat on a skewer. Before cooking the pig, marinate:
- grease it with a mixture of spices - garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper;
- put in a bag and leave for 12 hours.
Piglet marinated in a mixture of honey (50 g), tkemali sauce (100 g), garlic and spices turns out to be very tasty. Honey will accentuate the delicate taste of meat.
Light a fire in the grill, string the carcass on a spit so that the rod runs along the ridge, tie the pig's legs with wire and slowly rotate the spit. Cooking time depends on the height of the device and the heat of the coals, on average 3-4 hours are cooked. The whole pig is served with gravy on a large platter.
Boiled suckling pig
No less tasty boiled suckling pig. Chop the carcass into portions, put in a saucepan, add spices, salt, 1 carrot, 1 onion and cook over low heat, removing the foam. Put the finished pieces on a plate, pour with horseradish sauce. Serve boiled potatoes for a side dish.
Helpful advice! To fight off the specific smell, the pig can be soaked in a mixture of milk and water a day before cooking. Before frying, it is imperative to remove his eyes. It is better to do this with a fillet knife, cutting them in a circle.
