The cooking time is long here, but this recipe is simplicity itself, with minimal preparation. It may be high in calories, but enjoy it for a special occasion.
2kg (4½lb) piece pork belly roast, preferably on the bone
500ml bottle medium cider
600ml (1 pint) hot chicken stock
20g pack fresh rosemary
3 fat garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2Tbsp. olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 large orange and 1 lemon
3Tbsp. light muscovado sugar
1Tbsp. plain flour
25g (1oz) softened butter
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 150ºC (130ºC fan) mark 2. Put the pork, skin-side up, into a roasting tin just large enough to hold it. Add the cider, stock and half the rosemary. Bring to the boil on the hob, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 4hr. Leave to cool in the cooking liquid.
Step 2
Strip leaves from the remaining rosemary stalks and chop. Put into a pestle and mortar with the garlic, olive oil, orange and lemon zest, 1tsp salt and 1tbsp muscovado sugar. Pound for 3-4min to make a rough paste. You could use a strong bowl and the end of a rolling pin instead.
Step 3
Remove the pork from the tin, reserving the cooking liquid, and slice off the skin from the top layer of fat. Set aside. Score the fat into a diamond pattern and rub in the rosemary paste. Cover loosely with clingfilm and chill until required.
Step 4
Pat the pork rind dry with kitchen paper and transfer it (fat-side up) to a foil-lined baking sheet. Cook under a hot grill, about 10cm (4in) away from the heat, for 5min. Turn over, sprinkle lightly with salt, then grill for 7-10min or until crisp. Cool, then cut into rough pieces. Store in an airtight container.
Step 5
Strain cooking liquid into a pan. Add the orange and lemon juice and the remaining 2tbsp sugar, bring to the boil and bubble until reduced by half. Meanwhile, blend the flour and butter to a paste, then whisk into the bubbling liquid. Boil for 4-5min until thickened. Set aside.
Step 6
When almost ready to serve, preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7. Cook the pork uncovered in a roasting tin for 20min until piping hot. Wrap the crackling in foil and warm in the oven for the last 5min of the cooking time. Heat the gravy on the hob. Take the meat to the table, carve the pork and serve with the crackling by the side.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
