Slow Roast Belly of Pork

Slow Roast Belly of Pork with Potato & Celeriac

Serves 4
Pork
Ingredients:
5lb Belly of Pork. Ask the butcher to score the skin for you. This helps the crackling.
2 tsp fennel seed ground to a powder.
2 tsp salt
1 large onion
2 -3 large carrots

Pre heat oven to 240c

Potato & Celeriac
Ingredients
12 oz potatoes peeled and cut into even sized pieces
12 oz celeriac peeled and cut into even sized pieces

Method:

Skin the onion and cut into three evenly sized thick rings. Depending upon how big your carrots are you may want to cut them into large chunks.
Lay the 3 thick onion rings and carrots on bottom of a large roasting tray.

Rub the fennel and salt into the skin of the pork forcing it between the scores in the skin. Rub some into the underside of the belly.

Place pork on top of onion and carrot in roasting tray. Place in the oven, which should have been pre-heated to its hottest setting. Cook on maximum heat for 25 minutes then turn the oven to 180c

Cook at 180c for at least 3 to 3 ½ hours. A rough guide for belly pork is 30 minutes to the pound plus 30 minutes. You will need to check after 3 hours to see how its doing. On a moderate oven it really is difficult to over cook this pork.

Once cooked remove the pork from the oven. With a sharp knife remove the rib bones from the underside of the pork. Run your knife as close to the bones as you can when removing them so as not to strip away too much meat. Cover the pork with foil and leave to rest for 15-30 minutes. Make sure you rest it crackling side up otherwise the juices will drain down through the crackling and soften it.

Now with a potato masher or wooden spoon mash the vegetables in the roast pan to squeeze the goodness out of them. Add some pork stock or white wine to the pan) about ½ pint. This should help get all the blackened caramelised pieces of the roasting pan. Now add the rib bones from the pork to the roast pan. Bring it all to the boil and then turn to simmer. This is the gravy.

I always prefer to strain my gravy through a sieve and into a sauce pan and reduce a little more to concentrate the flavour

For the potato and celeriac

Put the potatoes into a pan of water. Add a little salt bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are soft and ready to mash. Drain the potato’s and return to the pan. Add some black pepper and butter and mash.

Put the celeriac into a pan of water. Add a little salt bring to boil and simmer until celeriac is soft and ready to mash. Darin the celeriac
and return to the pan. Add some black pepper and butter and mash.

Now combine the mashed potato and celeriac and mix well.
This can be made ahead of time an put in an oven proof gratin dish or similar and reheated for 30-40 minutes in the oven.


Notes:
Leave the pork a room temperature for at least an hour before cooking if it has been in the fridge.

I like to add a cup or so of dry cider or white wine to the pork after an hour or so. Just pour it into the roast pan not over the pork.

Wine Note:
This dish goes very well with Amarone. But I would think a good white burgundy or white Rioja would also work.