roast pork belly
serves two
1kg pork belly, skin scored
olive oil
fine sea salt
thyme leaves
Score the skin of the joint all over (your butcher will do this for you). Pour boiling water over the skin and then drain and pat dry with kitchen roll. This is to open up the scored skin and so help you get great crackling. Refrigerate, loosely covered with kitchen roll. Preheat your oven to 250C/230C fan or its highest setting. Rub the flesh with the olive oil. Rub all over with salt and pat on the thyme leaves. Place on a rack in a roasting tray (so the fat can drain off) and roast for 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to 170C/150C fan and cook for about an hour and a half further. Remove from the oven and switch the grill to high. Separate the crackling from the meat and loosely wrap the latter in foil to rest for 15 minuts. Meanwhile, scrape off the excess fat from the underside of the crackling. Flatten the crackling out with the flat of a cleaver or similar and place on a piece of foil under the grill, skin side down. Watch constantly - it'll only take a minute or two two brown. Flip the crackling over and now watch as the skin turns golden and - hey presto - puffs up as if by magic.
1kg pork belly, skin scored
olive oil
fine sea salt
thyme leaves
Score the skin of the joint all over (your butcher will do this for you). Pour boiling water over the skin and then drain and pat dry with kitchen roll. This is to open up the scored skin and so help you get great crackling. Refrigerate, loosely covered with kitchen roll. Preheat your oven to 250C/230C fan or its highest setting. Rub the flesh with the olive oil. Rub all over with salt and pat on the thyme leaves. Place on a rack in a roasting tray (so the fat can drain off) and roast for 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to 170C/150C fan and cook for about an hour and a half further. Remove from the oven and switch the grill to high. Separate the crackling from the meat and loosely wrap the latter in foil to rest for 15 minuts. Meanwhile, scrape off the excess fat from the underside of the crackling. Flatten the crackling out with the flat of a cleaver or similar and place on a piece of foil under the grill, skin side down. Watch constantly - it'll only take a minute or two two brown. Flip the crackling over and now watch as the skin turns golden and - hey presto - puffs up as if by magic.