Ingredients
9 cups kosher salt for brining, plus 1 tablespoon for the spice mixture
1 (15 pound) whole leg of pork, bone-in, skin-on
1 cup fennel seeds
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
8 garlic cloves
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 10 lemons)
2 cups spicy olive oil, such as Arbequina
One week prior to cooking, brine the pork. You can ask your butcher to brine the leg for you, or do it yourself.
Dissolve 2 cups of salt in 2 gallons cold water in a 5 gallon bucket. After the salt is dissolved, add ice to bring the water up to the 3 gallon mark to ensure the brine is very cold.
Place the whole leg in the brine and refrigerate it for up to a week. If refrigerator space is a consideration, a sturdy 5 gallon bag, sealed tightly, will also work. I like to change the brine every couple of days, using up to 9 cups of salt.
The night before serving the pork, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the leg from the brine and allow it to air dry, or pat it dry with paper towels. With a sharp paring knife, make parallel incisions about 1 inch apart on the length of the pork - through the skin and fat of the leg, almost to the meat. Repeat, covering the entire skin side of the leg with the incisions.
Lightly toast the fennel seeds in a dry large nonstick pan over medium heat until they become fragrant. Let the seeds cool. In a food processor, pulse the cooled fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic, and the 1 tablespoon of salt until it is roughly chopped. Then, generously press the spice mixture into the incisions in the leg.
Place the leg of pork in a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes. The pork should be deep golden brown in color and very aromatic. Mix the lemon juice with the oil and pour over the browned pork leg. Turn the oven down to 225 degrees F and continue to roast the pork for about 12 hours. Baste the leg with the pan juices every few hours if you like, or just leave it to cook. The meat should fall off the bone and the skin should be a deep golden brown.
To serve, remove the crackling skin and then pull the meat with a fork into long pieces. Drizzle the pork with the remaining pan juices, or serve the jus on the side. Serve the crackling skin, cracking it into pieces if you wish, as a garnish with the pork. Some people think it's the best part!
