Roast Pork Belly

Sorry to quote myself but I did say when I started this blog that I would treat myself to the odd high-fat dinner. Well this probably takes my quota for the month up as it'sone of the fattiest things I've eaten since I started writing about food. I only really made it because my Mum had given me some bramley apples that needed using. Also I thought I could use the leftovers in a seasonal chines plum sauce.

Roast Pork Belly (serves 4)

1.3kg Pork belly, scored
Lots of thyme leaves (about 4-6 sprigs)
4-6 sage leaves
2 onions, sliced
4 bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Juice of half a lemon
Juice of half an orange
1 tbsp caster sugar
Spinach and new potatoes to serve

1) When you buy the meat ask the butcher to score the skin for you. He should cut plenty of vertical slices in the fat. Then rub salt and pepper and thyme leaves into the cracks. Break up the sage leaves and rub those in too.
2) Pre-heat the oven to 220c, put the belly in a roasting dish and roast for half an hour. At this point a lot of juices will have been released from the pork and will start to caramelise on the bottom of the pan. A bit of this is okay but if you leave the meat sitting in it for the entire roasting time, the bottom of the meat will get too crusty. So, after the initial blast, lift the pork out of the tin, place the onion slices on the bottom and rest the meat on top.
3) Now turn the oven down to 180c and continue roasting for another hour. You should have some crackling on top of the pork and the juices should run clear when prodded with a skewer. Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
4) Meanwhile make the apple sauce. Core, peel and slice the apples and place them in a bowl with the lemon juice to prevent them from discolouring. Then put them in a small saucep;an with the sugar and cook until the apple has turned into a puree.
4) With about five minutes to go until the pork is done, put the new potatoes on to boil. When they're ready, drain them and put a knob of butter into the pan. Once melted, season with salt and pepper and lightly crush them with the back of a fork.
6) Finally put the spinach in a collander and pour boiling water on top of it until it has slightly wilted.
7) Cut the pork into thick slices and serve on topof the potatoes with some apple sauce and spinach on the side.

Unfortunately, because I didn't ask the butcher to score the meat properly, the crackling didn't crisp up enough. If this happens you can either whack the oven temperature up to the top and put the meat back in until you have good crackling. Or you can do what I did and remove the 'crackling' from the meat and put it straight in the oven. I'm not that big a fan of crackling so it wasn't a disaster for me. The pork is so soft and juicy it is comforting Sunday evening food of the highest order. Youw ill need a bit of apple sauce with each mouthful to cut through the juicy fat.