Slow cooked pork belly, crispy crackling, champ, apple sauce, mustard leeks, pork gravy

This was a lovely Sunday roast – inspired by a delicious lunch at The Lion Inn in Trellech over the New Year break, when we stayed at The Chickenshed with my in-laws. It is actually a former chicken shed that has been converted into a beautiful holiday home! The Lion Inn is a proper old-fashioned village pub (we bumped into the local vicar on our lunchtime there!). We enjoyed Sunday night jazz there on the last night of our holiday!

Anyway, back to dinner. I have tried for years to achieve the perfect crispy crackling and I think I have almost cracked (crackled?!) it. The secret, I think, is to remove the fat for the last bit of cooking and finish it off separately when the roast is resting.

We had leftovers of everything apart from the leeks; I made pork rolls for sandwiches the next day with the leftover pork and apple sauce, together with homemade coleslaw, barbecue sauce and salad. The mashed potatoes were used in Tuesday’s crab cakes!

Ingredients (serves 2, with leftovers for sandwiches!)

1 small pork belly joint (approx 800g)

small bunch of sage leaves

zest of 1 lemon

500g King Edward or Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

4 scallions, sliced

2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced

50g demerara sugar

2 leeks

125ml double cream

75g salted butter

1 tsp dijon mustard

500ml pork stock

2 tbsp flour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to  200°C/180°C fan.

2. Cut some deep scores through the pork skin in a criss-cross pattern.

3. Finely chop the sage leaves; mix with the lemon zest and rub it all over the pork joint. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper, and place it on a wire rack over a roasting tray.

4. Pop the pork in the oven for an hour, then reduce the heat to 180°C and cook for a further 90 minutes. Keep an eye on it, and if it starts to get a bit black at the edges, wrap the whole joint in tin foil.

5. Place the potato chunks into a pot of cold, salted water, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until soft. Drain and return to the hot pan, mash immediately before adding half the butter and cream, scallions and salt and pepper. Keep warm.

6. Melt the remaining butter in a pan and sauté the leeks over a medium heat until soft. Add the remaining cream and mustard; season to taste. Add a little more mustard if you prefer. The mustard leeks can be reheated just before serving.

7. Place the apple slices and sugar in a small pan with a splash of boiled water; stir over a medium heat until the sugar has melted and the apple has softened to a puree texture. Add a little more water if it starts to stick. The apple sauce can also be heated again before serving.

8. Take the pork out of the oven and separate the fat from the meat. Pour the roasting juices from the pan into a small pot. Wrap the joint of meat in tin foil and pop it in the bottom of the oven. Turn the oven back up to 200°C. Place the fat back on the roasting rack to let it crisp up (about 30 minutes more). Take the meat out of the oven after about 15 minutes and if it’s nice and tender, leave it to rest, wrapped in the tin foil, on a warmed plate.

9. Gently heat the pork juices in the small pan (you may need to add some butter until melted, if you have fewer than 2 tbsp of juices) and whisk in the flour. Slowly add the stock, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.