October. The sage in the garden has gone woody at the base but the new growth at the top is still soft, grey-green, and so fragrant your fingers smell of it for an hour after picking. This is when to make this roast. When the sage is strong and the evenings have turned, and there's a reason to spend an afternoon in a warm kitchen with something good in the oven.

Sage and onion stuffing is one of those combinations that doesn't need improving. Onions cooked low and slow until they're golden and sweet, fresh sage stirred through at the end, breadcrumbs to bind it. You spread it over a butterflied loin, roll the whole thing up, tie it, and let the oven do the rest. When you carve it at the table, each slice shows a spiral of stuffing through the centre, and there's something quietly satisfying about that. It looks generous. It looks like you meant it.

The crackling is worth the attention. Dry skin, good salt, a hot oven at the start. Get that right and the rest follows. I wrote it down in the notebook years ago, just a line: "Pork, sage, the last warm Saturday. Crackling perfect. Ate too much." That's still about right.

This is a dinner party roast for people who don't want dinner parties to feel like a performance. It asks for a bit of preparation, a bit of care, and then it sits in the oven while you set the table, open the wine, and stop worrying. There are few better feelings than carrying a roast to the table and watching someone's face when you start to carve.