Roast pork belly, fondant potatoes & pickled onions

Contains pork – recipe is for non-Muslims/non-pork eaters.

Treat yourself and others to roast pork belly served with soft fondant potatoes and caramelised pickled onions. Sunday lunch just got better

Prep:10 mins
Cook:2 hrs 25 mins

Serves 8-10
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 609
fat 42g
saturates 15g
carbs 15g
sugars 1g
fibre 2g
protein 42g
salt 2.3g

Ingredients

½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp mace
1 star anise, ground to a powder using a pestle and mortar
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
2½ kg bone-in pork belly, skin scored
50g butter, softened, for the tin
12 medium Maris Piper potatoes
1 bunch of thyme
454g jar pickled onions, drained
125ml chicken stock

Tip

Potato latkes

Coarsely grate the potato offcuts and squeeze out any water. Mix with a beaten egg and enough plain flour to bind the mixture to a thick batter. Fry flat spoonfuls of the mix until golden and cooked through. Serve with leftover soured cream.

Pork belly hotpot

Cut any leftover roast pork belly into bite-sized squares and reheat gently in a broth made from chicken stock, soy sauce, Chinese five spice and a sprinkling of brown sugar. Serve with rice or noodles.

Method

Mix the thyme, mace, star anise and sea salt flakes together in a small bowl. Rub all over the pork belly. If you have time, transfer the pork to a tray and marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hrs, but this is not essential.
Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and butter a large roasting tin. Cut a thin slice lengthways from both sides of each potato, then sit them flat in the prepared tin in one even layer. Scatter over the thyme and onions, then pour over the chicken stock.
Sit the pork on top of the potatoes, skin-side up and roast for 30 mins. Reduce the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 1 hr 30 mins, until the skin is crisp. Transfer the pork to a board, then cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 20 mins.
Return the tin with the potatoes to the oven and increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 25-30 mins until crisp. Carve the pork into generous squares (you can use a bread knife to do this more easily) and serve alongside the fondant potatoes and caramelised pickled onions.