This Morning herby stuffed pork belly

I love pork belly, its flavoursome and economical.  Try it here stuffed with fresh herbs, if you cant get fresh use dried herbs de province, you can get these in boxes from any supermarket.

If you want to watch a video of me making this dish click here.

Ingredients

SERVES 4

For the pork belly:

1.5k of pork belly boned with the skin scored

A small bunch each of sage and parsley chopped or torn

Rosemary and thyme finely chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

1 large onion, diced finely and fried gently to soften

1 handful of breadcrumbs

1 egg yolk to bind the stuffing

Sea salt and pepper

A few splashes of malt vinegar for the crackling

Boiling water for the crackling

For the potato salad:

500g aprox of new or salad potatoes
a small bunch of chives
a few tablespoons of crème fraiche
1tbsp mustard (wholegrain, English or Dijon whatever you prefer)
salt and pepper

Method
For the pork, lay the pork skin side down and season the meat with salt and pepper

In a bowl mix together the garlic, chopped herbs, breadcrumbs, onion and a little salt and pepper. If the mix is a little dry use the egg yolk to bind the mix together.

Press the stuffing mixture into the pork flesh and top with more whole herb leaves if you want to rev up the flavour!

Roll up the pork and secure with string, put the rolled pork in a roasting tin.

Now lets work on the crackling, the aim of the game is to open the pores of the skin to allow the salt to penetrate and crackle in the oven.

To do this we follow a few steps,

First pour boiling water over the skin and pat it dry.

Drain off the water. You only pour the water over to open the pores of the skin.

Pour over the vinegar and sprinkle with sea salt, and that’s it, guaranteed crackling every time.

Place in a hot oven (hottest it will go) immediately!

Roast the pork on full heat for 30 minutes to develop the crackling then turn the oven down to gas mark 2 and continue cooking for 2 hours.  After 2 hours turn the heat back upto full and roast the joint for the final 30 minutes to make sure the crackling is extra crunchy.

So in total the pork will take 3 hours to cook.  Its pork belly remember so long slow cooking will make the meat very tender. 

The potato salad couldn’t be simpler.
Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until tender.
Drain well and put the back in the pan, crush lightly with a fork.
Add the creme fraiche, which will melt in the heat of the potatoes, stir in the mustard and snipped chives, season and serve immediately or eat cold.

Allow the pork to rest for 30 minutes before carving with the juices from the pan poured over.  Enjoy this delicious alternative to a Sunday lunch with fabulous cold cuts leftover for Monday’s sandwiches.