Food & Cooking Cooking How-Tos & Techniques Crown Roast of Pork 101 A majestic centerpiece for your next special dinner. By Martha Stewart Editors Martha Stewart Editors An article attributed to "Martha Stewart Editors" indicates when several writers and editors have contributed to an article over the years. These collaborations allow us to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information available.The Martha Stewart team aims to teach and inspire readers daily with tested-until-perfected recipes, creative DIY projects, and elevated home and entertaining ideas. They are experts in their fields who research, create, and test the best ways to help readers design the life they want. The joy is in the doing. Editorial Guidelines Published on December 4, 2013 Trending Videos Photo: Ryan Liebe A holiday dinner is your chance to pull out all the stops. For this majestic centerpiece, two racks of pork are attached end-to-end to form a crown. (Sure, you can special-order your cleaned and trimmed racks already tied, but why let the butcher have all the fun?) Once you fill the roast with savory chestnut-rye stuffing and pop it into the oven, you can rest easy until it’s time to whip up the gravy and wait for your guests to arrive. When they do, they’ll be dazzled by your delicious feast. View the Recipe for Roast of Pork With Chestnut-Rye Stuffing 01 of 09 Partially Separate Chops Ryan Liebe Place pork racks, fat side down, on a work surface. Cut a third of the way through flesh between each rib bone. This will allow racks to fan open into a crown shape (see step 3). View Recipe 02 of 09 Thread End Chops Ryan Liebe Position racks as shown, fat sides touching and bones upright. Thread a trussing needle with cotton kitchen twine and horizontally run it through meat just below last rib bone on 1 rack and straight through meat of opposite chop. View Recipe 03 of 09 Tie End Chops Ryan Liebe Tie chops together as tightly as possible to form a half circle, or half of the crown. Then repeat process on other end of racks to finish the crown. (You can also use this technique on racks of lamb.) View Recipe 04 of 09 Tie Bones Together Ryan Liebe Where racks are joined, tie rib bones together. At this point, you can store the crown roast, uncovered, in the refrigerator 1 day. Bring to room temperature before continuing, about 1 hour. View Recipe 05 of 09 Season Crown Ryan Liebe Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lower third. Place roast on a flat rack set in a roasting pan; season with salt. Stir together garlic, sage, orange zest, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; spread all over roast. Let stand 30 minutes; prepare stuffing. View Recipe 06 of 09 Stuff Crown and Roast Ryan Liebe Fill with 6 cups stuffing; roast 30 minutes. (Tent with foil once stuffing browns.) Reduce heat to 375 degrees; roast until a thermometer inserted down between bones into thickest part of flesh reaches 140 degrees, 1 hour. Transfer to a board; let rest 20 minutes. View Recipe 07 of 09 Prepare Stuffing Ryan Liebe Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and celery with salt until translucent, 3 minutes. Add sage and wine; boil to reduce by half, 2 minutes. Toss with bread, chestnuts, parsley, broth, and juice. Fold in eggs. Stuff crown with about 6 cups (see step 6); roast. While cooked roast rests, bake remaining stuffing at 375 degrees in a buttered baking dish until brown, 20 minutes. View Recipe 08 of 09 Make Gravy Ryan Liebe Tilt roasting pan; skim fat from drippings. Place pan across 2 burners over medium-high heat. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Add 1 1/4 cups broth; return to a boil. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup broth and flour, and pour into pan, whisking, until thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in butter and accumulated juices from roast, and strain. View Recipe 09 of 09 Ready for Dinner Ryan Liebe After the crown roast has rested, transfer to a serving platter. Remove all twine. Garnish with sage and kumquats. Use a carving knife to cut roast between each rib for individual chops, and serve with stuffing and gravy. Store any remaining crown roast whole (sliced chops dry out faster) in refrigerator up to 3 days. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit