Rolled crispy belly pork with sage & homemade apple sauce

This is not for those obsessively counting calories. Not for women concerned about their waist, not for men who would only eat fish to maintain their six-pack abs. If you do not like fat it means that you do not like the taste.

I am not encouraging you to swap your diet for fatty one, but if you fancy pork it is better to buy fatty cuts, as they do not dry out during the cooking and are extremely tasty. You do not have to eat fat, you can always leave it on the side of the plate but it is essential to cook pork with some fat as it prevents meat from drying. And this is something that food lovers should avoid.

This is not something that I cook on everyday basis, but I we like to dig in fatty, tasty piece of pork perhaps twice a year, so cook belly pork in two ways and I am going to show one of them.

Serves 2-3

approx. 800g rolled belly pork
2 carrots, roughly chopped
leek, sliced
2 onions, peeled and halved
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
ok. 400ml dry cider or vegetable stock
tsp dry sage
tbsp cider vinegar
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 160C. Place all vegetables in an ovenproof dish.

Place the belly pork in a colander and pour some hot water over – James Martin says it will make the skin crispier. Dry and rub cider vinegar all over the belly pork. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sage and place onto a veg, add half of the cider or stock and place in the oven. Roast for 2.5 hours adding rest of the cider after about 1.5hour.

Remove from the oven, cover with tin foil and leave it to rest for about 10 minutes. Remove the string and slice.

We had it with some braised cabbage, new potatoes and homemade apple sauce.




Homemade apple sauce

2 big cooking apples (I used Granny Smith), peeled, cored and diced
2 tsp soft brown sugar
2 tbsp water
juice of whole lemon
pinch of cinnamon
tbsp honey

Place all of the above ingredients in a pan and simmer over a medium heat, pressing apples down with wooden spoon until mashed.