Pork belly with roasted fennel and apples

Recipes / Meat

"Who can ever resist roast pork This recipe will give you the best crispy crackling and supremely tender meat. Paired with soft, sweet apple and fennel, its a sure-fire winner for any special occasion" - Justine Schofield

Recipe «Pork belly with roasted fennel and apples» presented in category Recipes / Meat, to prepare this dish you will need no more 4:40 minutes. To make this dish at home by prescription from the author Gomer would need: 2kg piece pork belly, skin scored, 2 fennel bulbs, 1 brown onion, sliced, 2 roma tomatoes, quartered, 1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally , 1 bunch fresh thyme, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds , 2 tbsp salt, 250ml apple cider or white wine, 1.5-2L Massel chicken style liquid stock, 4 small green apples, quartered, cored.

Ingredients:

  • 2kg piece pork belly, skin scored 
  • 2 fennel bulbs 
  • 1 brown onion, sliced 
  • 2 roma tomatoes, quartered 
  • 1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally 
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme 
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
  • 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds 
  • 2 tbsp salt 
  • 250ml apple cider or white wine 
  • 1.5-2L Massel chicken style liquid stock 
  • 4 small green apples, quartered, cored 

Instructions

  1. Place pork on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Use paper towel to pat the pork dry, particularly the skin. Place in the fridge, uncovered, overnight. This helps the skin dry out for super-crispy crackling.
  2. Remove pork from fridge 45 minutes before cooking. This will help the meat cook more evenly. Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan forced. Remove cores from fennel bulbs and cut each into 6 wedges.
  3. Place the fennel, onion, tomato, garlic and thyme in a single layer in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with half the oil and sprinkle with half the caraway seeds. Season. Toss until well coated in oil.
  4. Sprinkle pork flesh with remaining caraway. Place pork, skin side up, on top of vegies. Drizzle remaining oil over pork. Rub skin generously with salt. Season. Roast pork for 25-30 minutes or until skin is crispy.
  5. Reduce heat to 160C/140C fan forced. Pour cider into pan. Add enough stock to pan to cover pork flesh, but not the skin. Cook for a further 2 hours, adding the apple for the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
  6. Transfer vegies and apple to a platter. Top with pork. Place pan over medium heat. Simmer juices for 8-10 minutes, until reduced by one-third. Serve the pork, apple and vegies with pan juices to drizzle over.