Slow roast pork belly recipe

Crsipy crackling, tender meat and a sweet apple sauce - Lawrence Keogh's pork belly is Sunday perfection on a plate. The Roast chef shows that cooking lunch for the family doesn't have to be a chore, with this straightforward recipe

Serves 10

Takes 4 hours

• 1 pork belly, approx 5kg bone-in
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Sea salt
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 1kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• 100g butter
• 1 cinnamon stick

How to make slow roast pork belly

1. Look at the pork belly; if the skin is elastic and fresh without being slimy or dry then score it, drizzle with lemon juice and cover with a very generous amount of salt. Leave for ten minutes then pat it dry to remove the lemon juice and re-salt it.

2. Put it on a trivet of the peeled and sliced potatoes. Place in 240°C oven until golden brown and crackled (approx 20 minutes), turn down to 140°C and cook for three hours or until the rib bones pull out easily and the flesh is juicy and tender. Rest, then carve.

3. Place apples into a large pot with the butter and cinnamon stick and gently stew until soft, then put through a mouli or use a potato masher to make the accompanying apple sauce. Serve and enjoy.

Tips: If the skin is in any way imperfect then score it and place the pork belly on a wire rack over a sink or large pan. Pour over a large kettles worth of boiling water. Pat it dry and then continue with the salting process. This opens the pores of the pork and lets the heat and salt penetrate more easily, leading to better crackling. If the skin is perfect do not do this, as it adds to the water content of the skin and it will need longer in the hot oven to start with. The lemon juice also adds to the water content, but it makes the salt dissolve and penetrates the skin, leading to crisper, saltier cracking. It also adds acidity, which cuts the fat when you eat it.

© Lawrence Keogh at Roast