Roast Pork Belly With Apple
Pork and apple is a classic combination, extra delicious with new season apples. For perfectly crisp crackling, get started the day before serving.
Ingredients
750g-1kg Freedom Farms pork belly, skin on
2 tsp flaky sea salt
2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and ground
2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
2 onions, thinly sliced
330ml can dry apple cider
4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup Reduced Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp chives, chopped
Method
Score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife. Pour ladles of boiling water over the skin to open the pores. Dry the pork very well then rub the salt into the skin, ensuring you get some into the cuts. Put on a rack over a tray and refrigerate uncovered overnight (this ensures the skin will dry out even more)
Heat the oven to 220°C. Remove pork from the fridge, pat dry again and rub all over with the ground fennel and coriander seeds. Sprinkle over more salt
Put the pork on a rack over a roasting dish and roast for 20 mins. Remove from the oven and lower the heat to 160°C
In a clean roasting dish, arrange the onions and place the pork on top. Pour the cider around the pork and cook for 40 mins. Add the apples around the pork and cook for a further 30-40 mins, adding extra liquid to the roasting dish if the vegetables start to catch. Remove from the oven
If the pork skin hasn’t completely crackled, put the belly on another tray and slide under the grill to finish crackling (be careful as it can burn very quickly). Leave the meat to rest for 10 mins before slicing. Put the onion and apples into a serving dish and keep warm, reserving the liquid
In a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and fry for a few minutes, then whisk in the cooking juices from the pork, and the chicken stock. Simmer until lightly thickened, about 10 mins
Sprinkle the chives over the onion and apple and serve with the pork and gravy, with a leafy green salad alongside