JUICY SUCCULENT ROAST BELLY PORK WITH FOOL PROOF CRISPY CRACKLING

Brilliantly moist and succulent roasted pork belly with crispy crackling skin, it is the method that will guarantee crispy crackling every time, its really very simple.  The key is to have a dry skin before you start, a very hot oven 220 degrees C and some sea salt, that's it!  

Prep time 10 minutes / Cook Time 45 minutes / Rest time 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Belly Pork

1 kg organic or local farm pork belly

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tbsp sea salt

Fabulous Buttery Mashed Potatoes

1 kg King Edward potatoes

250g butter YES 250g!

sea salt and white pepper

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

Pre heat your oven to 220 degrees C, grease a flat baking tray with the coconut oil and place you pork belly on the tray, pat the skin dry with paper roll, sprinkle over the salt and place in the oven at this high temperature for 30 minutes, then turn the heat down to 180 C and cook for a further 15 minutes,  Once cooked take out of the oven and leave to rest for a minim of five minutes to relax the meat and let all the juices settle evenly in the belly pork, thus ensuring a juicy pork belly.

Once the pork belly has been in the oven for 15 minutes peel the potatoes, cut into four and place in a deep saucepan of boiling water, simmer for 30 minutes until fork tender, tip the potatoes out in to a colander and leave to drain for a few minutes, place the saucepan back on the lowest heat, add the butter and allow to just melt, add back the potatoes, sea salt, white pepper and white wine vinegar, mash with a masher keeping some texture.  I personally like to push my potatoes through a ricer so that the mash is silky smooth, but for my husband I use a masher as he likes some small hint of  possible lumps !!!  This I will call texture and apparently some top chefs do this to !

Serve a generous dollop of creamy buttery mashed potatoes in the centre of your plate and then top with thin slices of your gorgeous juicy succulent and crispy belly pork, I like to serve with a side of homemade quince and apple sauce.

Homemade Apple & Quince Sauce

2 apples peeled & diced

1 quince peeled & diced

4 tbsp cider

4 tbsp unrefined brown sugar

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, as soon as the apples and quince are squishy soft your apple sauce is ready.