Allow pork roast to come to room temperature before cooking, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Mix together the 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp thyme, parsley, and black pepper.

Place pork on cutting board skin-side up, and score the fat in diagonal lines quite deeply, but not so far as to cut into the meat itself. Turn the pork over and spread herb mixture onto the meat. Turn the pork back over, skin-side-up. Rub the salt all over the skin.

Place roast on a wire rack over a roasting tin and pour 2 cups chicken stock in bottom of roaster. Roast in the oven for 1 hours and 30 minutes. (2 ½ hours if not adding vegetables)

While pork is roasting, put potatoes, carrots, onions, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tsp thyme in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, stir to combine.

Remove roast from oven and add the vegetables to the roasting pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Return to oven for 1 hour or until pork reaches 145°F and vegetables are tender.

Remove from oven and gently cover pork with foil, and let roast rest 15 minutes before carving. Transfer any meat juices to a saucepan.

Optional: For a crisp crackling on top, place pork back on wire rack in roasting tin and cook additional 20-25 minutes at 425°F until skin begins to crisp up. Keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn.

Over medium heat, whisk in flour to the saucepan of meat juices. Add in 2 cups chicken stock and whisk until combined. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pork and vegetables.