Ingredients

Method

• 4.8 kg pork belly
• salt, to taste
• white vinegar, for brushing
• 800 g Woolworths pork-and-herb bangers, removed from the casings
For the almond, parsley and lemon salsa, mix:
• 200 g flaked almonds, toasted
• parsley a handful
• ½ orange, peeled
• 1 lemon, zested
For the apple slaw, mix:
• 2 Granny Smith apples, sliced julienne
• 100 g cabbage, sliced chiff onade
• 1 t lime zest
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 heaped T parsley
• 2 T walnut oil
• sugar, to taste
• salt, to taste
For the Christmas-spiced pecorino cream sauce:
• 2 onions, sliced
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 g thyme
• 4 cloves
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 litre cream
• 130 g pecorino, grated
• white pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste

Method

Ingredients

1. Rub the skin of the pork belly with salt and place in the fridge overnight to rest. Wash off the salt, brush with white vinegar and place in the fridge overnight once more to rest.

2. The next day, make the salsa, then set aside.

3 .Remove the pork from the fridge, dry well with kitchen paper, butterfl y and spread a 1 cm-thick layer of the sausage meat over the inner belly. Cover with a layer of the salsa, setting a little aside for serving.

4. Roll the pork belly into a sausage shape and secure with string. Preheat the oven to 240°C.

5. Roast the pork for 20–30 minutes, or until the skin starts to blister. Reduce the oven’s temperature to 180°C and roast for a further 30–50 minutes, or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 70°C. If you prefer very crisp crackling, place the pork under a hot grill for a few additional minutes, watching closely.

6. Rest the pork for 15 minutes, then slice and serve dressed with the apple slaw and pecorino cream sauce, drizzled with a little of the remaining salsa.

7. To make the sauce, sweat the onion, bay leaves, thyme, cloves and garlic in the oil and butter until soft. Add the stock and cook until reduced and syrupy. Add the cream and reduce until thickened. Blend in the pecorino and season with white pepper and salt.

Find more pork recipes here.

Photographs: Jan Ras
Production: Abigail Donnelly
Food Assistant: Tiffany Kate-Lyn Matthews