Rolled Pork Neck with Metsovone and Ham, Oven-Baked with Sweet Potato Wedges
A juicy rolled pork neck stuffed with Metsovone cheese and ham, slow-roasted until tender and served with thyme-roasted sweet potato wedges.
- Prep25 min
- Cook3h 30m
- Total3h 55m
- DifficultyMedium
- Servings6
This rolled pork neck is a showstopper for a Sunday roast or a festive table. The meat is butterflied, spread with a fragrant herb and mustard butter, then layered with smoky Metsovone cheese and ham before being rolled and slow-roasted to perfection.
The long, gentle roasting makes the pork incredibly tender and juicy, while the sweet potatoes, baked alongside in the same oven, soak up all those lovely juices. It's a complete, hearty meal that looks impressive but is surprisingly simple to put together.
Ingredients
Servings
Converted amounts are rounded.
Method
- In a bowl, place the softened butter and set aside.
- Finely chop the garlic, thyme, and rosemary, then add them to the bowl with the butter.
- Season with salt and pepper, add the mustard and honey, and mix everything together with a spoon until well combined. Set the flavored butter aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F with the fan setting on.
- On your work surface, lay out a sheet of aluminum foil and place a piece of parchment paper on top. Put the pork neck on the parchment.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the pork lengthwise in half to open it like a book, creating a large flat surface for the filling.
- Make several shallow incisions on the inner surface of the meat with the knife; this helps the flavors penetrate.
- Spread half of the flavored butter evenly over the entire inner surface of the meat using a spoon.
- Arrange a layer of the Metsovone cheese slices over the butter, followed by a layer of the ham slices.
- Using the parchment paper to help you, roll the pork into a tight cylinder, sealing the filling inside. Sprinkle the outside with salt.
- Place the rolled pork seam-side up on the parchment, with the long side parallel to the long side of the paper.
- Spread the remaining flavored butter over the entire surface of the pork roll. Wrap it first in the parchment paper, then in the aluminum foil, making sure it's well sealed.
- Transfer the wrapped pork to a baking pan fitted with a rack, seam-side up, and roast for 3 hours. (Meanwhile, have the sweet potatoes prepared so they can go into the oven alongside the meat.)
- Increase the oven temperature to 370°F, unwrap the pork, and roast for 30 more minutes until nicely browned.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside to rest.
- Leave the skin on the sweet potatoes, cut them into wedges, and place them in a baking pan with the skin side facing down.
- Season the sweet potatoes with salt, pepper, and thyme, then drizzle with olive oil.
- Put the pan in the oven and bake the sweet potatoes together with the pork for 30 minutes, until tender and caramelized.
- Take the pan out of the oven and set aside.
- Slice the pork into pieces, arrange on a platter, and serve with the roasted sweet potatoes.
💡 Tips
- For easier slicing, let the pork rest for at least 10 minutes after roasting.
- If you don't have Metsovone, use another smoked cheese like provolone or scamorza.
- The sweet potatoes can be cut into wedges ahead of time and kept in water to prevent browning.
Inspired by a recipe from Άκης Πετρετζίκης