Roast Pork Belly with Apple Sauce & Crackling

Ingredients

• 1200 g pork belly, skin scored
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 3 Bramley cooking apples, peeled and cored
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 4 clove garlic cloves
• 200 ml dry cider
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. 1

   Pat the pork belly skin completely dry. Score deeply through the skin, rub with olive oil, then rub sea salt and fennel seeds all over the skin and into the scores. Leave uncovered in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or overnight).

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 240°C/fan 220°C. Place the pork skin-side up on a rack over a roasting tin. Tuck the garlic cloves underneath and roast for 25 minutes until the skin begins to crackle and blister.

3. 3

   Reduce to 180°C/fan 160°C, pour the cider into the base of the tin and roast for a further 1 hour 15 minutes.

4. 4

   Meanwhile, roughly chop the apples and cook in a small pan with the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water over a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until collapsed into a sauce. Beat smooth and season.

5. 5

   Rest the pork for 10 minutes, then slice and serve with the crackling, warm apple sauce and roast potatoes.