Chops with Sausage Spine – (Gyulais karaj)

Chops with Sausage Spine  -  (Gyulais karaj)
Ingredients (for 8 servings):
3 1/4 lb de-boned chops, 1 pair of gyulai sausage, 1 level tablespoon salt, 1 level teaspoon ground black pepper and ground caraway seeds each, 3 oz oil, 1 red onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste, 1 level tablespoon flour, 1 cup water
for the potato mounds:
2 1/4 lb potatoes, salt, 1 big red onion, 1 bunch of parsley, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 6-7 tablespoons oil

Wash the meat, pat dry and remove the film. Pierce the meat lengthwise in the middle using a sharp, but not too wide knife. Widen the hole a bit using your finger or the handle of a mallet. Remove the skin of the sausage and push it through the hole in the middle of the meat. Rub the meat well with salt, pepper and caraway seeds, bind it using a thin string to give it a nice, round shape. Heat the oil in a pot and bake the meat in it, turning it to evenly bake all surfaces. Place it in a baking dish, brush with its own fat and surround it with the peeled and quartered onions and halved garlic cloves. Preheat the oven to medium heat (355 °F, 330 °F in air-convector ovens) and cook until red for about 50 minutes, basting with its fat occasionally. Put aside when done. Pour the remaining fat into a pot, heat the tomato paste in it for 1/2 minute, sift on the flour. After another 1/2 minute , pour in 1 cup of water, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add salt, pepper and caraway seeds if needed, then strain it. Pour it over the meat and serve with steamed cabbage (see Pig Roast in Milk with Champagne Cabbage) and potato mounds. For the latter cook the potatoes with the skin on in salted water. Strain and let cool. Peel off the skin and grate the potatoes using a wide-hole grater. Add the very finely chopped onions and parsley, salt and pepper. Bake the mixture in small mounds using the holes of a snail- or egg-fryer with a bit of oil.

Preparation time: 1 hour 40 minutes
One serving: 2738 kJ/655 kcal