PERFECT ROAST PORK CRACKLING EVERY TIME

 Foolproof easy crispy crackling every time with succulent juicy belly pork.

Three great recipes for great crispy crackling that everyone will WoW over.

Method is the key to success, simply bring your pork belly out of the fridge one to two hours before cooking, pat the skin dry, score the skin and liberally rub sea salt all over the skin, place in your roasting tin with a glug of olive oil in the base of the tin.  Cook in a pre heated oven 220C for around one and a quarter to one and a half hours for a 1 kg piece of belly pork, until the skin is crispy cracking.

Porchetta 

A real family crowd pleaser, crispy pork crackling, succulent juicy pork belly wrapped around a pork loin with a fennel, apple and sage sausage meat stuffing.  Perfect crackling is easy to achieve, it’s a simple method that works every time, bring your pork out of the fridge 2 hours before cooking, pat the skin really dry with paper towel, score the skin only fat deep and generously rub sea salt all over.  Cook in a very hot oven for 30 minutes then lower the heat until the pork reaches 70 C / 158 F.  

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 2-3 hours

Ingredients 

(serves 6)

(plus thinly shaved leftovers for sandwiches)

1.5kg belly pork skin on

1 kg pork loin skin off
Himalayan sea salt

2 carrots roughly chopped 

1 onion roughly chopped 

2 clove garlic crushed

500ml cider

Apple Fennel Stuffing 

500g minced belly pork

8 rashers streaky bacon diced

1/2 fennel bulb finely diced

1 small onion finely diced

1 clove garlic finely diced

1 apple finely diced

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp fennel seeds

12 fresh sage leaves

2 sprigs thyme

1 lrg pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 lrg pinch fresh ground black pepper 

To make the stuffing combine all the ingredients, if you want to test for seasoning, take a teaspoon full of the mixture and pan fry.

Stuffing The Porchetta

Lay the belly pork skin side down, spread the stuffing all over, place the pork loin in the centre of the belly pork, place 5 individual 1 meter lengths of butchers string under the belly pork equally spaced, starting with the middle string tie up the pork as tight as possible.

Place the onions, garlic, carrots and cider in the roasting tin, take the tied up pork joint, pat the skin dry, generously rub with the sea salt and place in the roasting tin, pop in the pre heated oven 220 C / 428 F for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 160 C / 320 F until the center of the pork is 70 C / 158 F, remove from the oven, cover with foil or a cloth and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.  Pour off the cooking stock through a sieve and this is your awesome gravy.

That’s it serve generous slices for a roast dinner, keep the remaining roast joint chilled in the fridge and thinly slice for deli meats during the week, stuff in a buttered bun with apple sauce and stuffing for a great lunch!

Chicharron’s

For these treats I removed the skin from the belly, paged dry, rubbed generously with salt and cooked at 220C for 40 minutes or so until the skin is crispy crackling.  This method will also render down a little of the fat, save this to use as your lard for your next roast or for adding to pastry giving your pastry a gorgeous roast crispy crackling flavour.

Rack of French trimmed pork (rack of chops)

Pre heat your oven to 220 degrees, generously rub the dry scored skin of the pork with sea salt and place in your roasting tin, pop in the oven for 30 minutes at this high temperature, this is what will set your crackling, after 30 minutes turn the oven down to 180 degrees and leave to cook the last 30 minutes. This method is for a approx 750g pork joint.

ZUCCHINI COURGETTE CRISPY FRIES

The first time I had these I was shocked how gorgeous and moorish they were, I would have never thought zucchini courgette fries could ever compete with fluffy crispy potato fries, but boy they do!

 Gorgeous crispy zucchini or as know to us in the UK courgette fries, these are naturally gluten free, low in carbs and a lighter option without compromising on any favour or texture

Using natures batter made with gram flour which is made from garbanzo beans (chickpeas) makes these naturally gluten free and the addition of some freshly grated Parmesan just seasons the batter to perfection.

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

2 large zucchini/ courgettes 

1 cup of gram flour

1/4 tsp turmeric 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan 

Pinch sea salt

Pinch fresh ground black pepper

200-300ml water

2 ltr vegetable oil for frying

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise then in half crosswise so you have four equal pieces, cut each quarter in to fries, I cut each piece in half then half again and depending on the size half again.

Toss in a bowl with the salt, pepper and Parmesan.

Next make the batter, mix the gram flour with the turmeric, salt the pepper, add two thirds of the water you want a watery batter the consistency of runny single cream so that the batter will only just coat the fries, this gives you a fine crispy coating not deep fried battered fries.

Toss the zucchini fries through the batter, place in you fryer or pan of hot oil heated to 180 C / 356 F, cook for 3-5 minutes until crispy and lightly golden, drain on paper towel, check if the fries need additional seasoning and serve immediately.