Leitão à Bairrada - suckling pig Bairrada style

Did I say suckling pig? I certainly did and I am talking the WHOLE animal too. Check your local farms to find one. We got ours from Maple Creek Farms - Party With A Pig. We had already gone there before when we had venison to be processed and they did a fantastic job. This is as close as possible to the traditional recipe from Bairrada, Portugal. Unfortunately due to logistics we decided to do it in the oven instead of a roasting pit, but after reading much about it I realized this was not going to be a problem in terms of the taste of the meat.

INGREDIENTS

2 garlic heads,
3 tbsp of coarse sea salt
1 tbsp of freshly grounded black pepper
1 bunch of parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of lard
bacon

DIRECTIONS

1. Use an pestle and a mortar to mix all ingredients apart from the pork fat and olive oil
2. Once that is done, add the fat and keep on mixing to create a nice paste
3. Add the olive oil and incorporate it well in the paste
4. Spread the paste you created in the insides of the pig as well as a thinner coat on the outside and leave it marinated for at least 4 hours
5. Saw the pig back together then it will be ready for the roasting to start
6. If you are going to use a roasting pit then I suggest you read these instructions
7. If you decide to do it in the oven, preheat it to 355, then place the pig on a rack with a dripping pan under it
8. Every 30 minutes, remove it quickly from the oven, close the door and gently clean its skin from any moisture it has, then place it back in the oven turning it into different positions each time
9. Repeat this until it is fully cooked (about 2 hours for a 22lbs pig)
10. Serve it hot or cold with orange slices all around it and preserve the drippings if anyone wants to add over the meat