Crispy Pork Belly with Apple, Fennel & Cider Sauce

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Simon Mayo's show is on from 10am until 1pm every Saturday and you can listen here. On Saturday 23rd March we made Crispy Pork Belly with Apple, Fennel & Cider Sauce.

The full recipe is below:

Crispy Pork Belly with Apple, Fennel & Cider Sauce

By La Petite Bouchée from The Devon Cook Book (Meze Publishing)

This recipe is made using organic cider from Ashridge in Totnes, locally grown apples & some of the finest locally sourced pork you’ll ever taste. It’s then cooked very slowly until the pork melts in the mouth & the crackling is deliciously crispy. No trivet required for this slow roast; just build one from the apples & fennel.

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 3hrs

Ingredients

1.8kg organic pork belly (make sure the skin is scored)

A large pinch of sea salt & freshly cracked mixed peppercorns

A handful of crushed fennel seeds

1 lemon, zested

8 large apples, peeled, cored & roughly chopped

1 large fennel bulb, thickly sliced

2 pints cider

A handful of fresh thyme

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

A splash of Calvados

Celery cress, to garnish (optional)

Seasonal vegetables, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Firstly, pat the pork belly dry & score the skin using a sharp knife (could be a Stanley). Alternatively you can get your butcher to do this for you.

Using a mortar & pestle, crush the salt, peppercorns & fennel seeds, just so that there is still some texture. Add the lemon zest & bruise it to release the oils. Rub all over the pork, making sure you massage the rub into the skin thoroughly. If you have any rub left over you can simply add it to the sauce.

Place the chopped apples & sliced fennel in a pile in the centre of a large roasting tray & spread out to the size of the pork belly. Place the meat on top of the apples & fennel, & then pour in the cider around the fruit & vegetables. Add a few sprigs of thyme, any of the remaining rub & the mustard, mixing it into the cider.

Place the pork in the oven & cook it for 1hr. After an hour, turn the heat right down to 170C & cook for a further 2hrs. Remove the pork from the oven & pour off the cider & fruit sauce into a large saucepan. Cover & allow to rest.

Blitz the sauce with a hand blender, then start to reduce the sauce. Check for seasoning & stir in the splash of Calvados (Nigel used a British cider brandy).

To plate, place a chunk of pork belly into the centre of the plate, pour some of the sauce around the meat & garnish with celery cress. Serve with seasonal vegetables.

Nigel suggests using seasonal winter veg such as swede, turnip & parsnips for a vegetarian version, instead of the pork belly. Peel & roughly chop the veg & braise in the cider as you would the pork, but for about 1/3rd of the time, until they’re softening, but still with a little bite. Keep checking on them in the oven after about 35 mins, by piercing with a sharp knife.

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• recipe
• simon mayo
• nigel barden