Slow roasted pork belly with salsa verde
Pork belly’s dominance on the gastropub menu feels like something of a relic, but I quietly hope for – and have confidence in – its resurgence. It deserved its status. Being quite a tough, fatty cut, it responds best to long, slow cooking, giving the fat a chance to render and the meat a chance to soften. You are left with one of the most luscious pieces of meat imaginable.
Tip: For a delicious dish the next day, slice leftover pork belly and toss in Chinese five-spice, soy sauce and a little oil. Fry until crisp. Serve with pak choi and noodles.
A recipe from Let's Do Dinner by James Ramsden. Buy the book here.
Ingredients
Ingredients
For the salsa verde
Up to a day ahead:
Step 1
Make the salsa verde by thoroughly blending or finely chopping all of the ingredients apart from the olive oil. Slowly stir or blend in the oil and season with pepper. Taste and add a little salt if necessary. Cover and chill.
4½ hours ahead:
Step 2
Using a very sharp knife – I use a scalpel – score the meat at 1cm/ ½ in intervals. Scatter some salt over the skin and leave for 1 hour. This draws out excess moisture and gives you crisper crackling.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.
3½ hours ahead:
Step 4
Pat the pig skin dry and shake off any excess salt. Pile the onions and herbs in a roasting pan and lay the pork belly on top. Try not to leave any stray pieces of onion poking out from under the pork, as these have a tendency to burn.
Step 5
Roast the pork in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 160°C/325°F/Gas mark 3 and roast for a further 2 hours.
30 minutes ahead:
Step 6
Remove the pork and transfer to a carving board to rest. If at this point the crackling isn’t as crisp as you’d like, put the pork in a different roasting pan and back in the oven at 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7 until crisp.
Step 7
Tip away the excess fat from the original roasting pan, then put the pan over a high heat. Add the cider or wine and simmer for a minute or so, scraping up all the pan juices, then add the stock or water and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add a little salt and pepper if necessary.
Step 8
If you’ve been crisping up the crackling, rest the pork belly for 5–10 minutes before serving.
Step 9
Carve the pork and crackling into nice thick chunks, and serve with a spoonful of the gravy and a good dollop of salsa verde.
