Roast Pork Belly with Caramelised Onions

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Ingredients

• 1 medium block of pork belly
• 1 large red onion, finely sliced
• glug of white wine
• rosemary or thyme sprigs (or both)
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, smashed whole
• salt, pepper, olive oil

This is a really simple recipe that gives you a great base for a meal with next to no effort - you just bung it in the oven and forget about it. As the pork cooks, it releases fat which caramelises the onions underneath it. I served the pork resting on a bed of the onions, with brussels sprouts on the side.

1. Preheat the oven to 230C.

2. Score the skin / fat of your pork with a very sharp knife. Season the skin generously with salt and pepper. Set aside to dry out a little.

3. Slice the onions very thinly. Create a "bed" of onions on the baking tray, to go underneath the pork (so don't spread them all out - you want the fat to drip down on them). Lay the herb sprigs and garlic on top of the bed of onions and season with a little salt and pepper.

4. Lay the pork on top of the onion-herb bed. Drizzle generously with olive oil, to cover the pork skin. Pour white wine around the onions. Put in the oven for about an hour. You'll need to keep checking it throughout, to make sure the skin isn't burning or the liquid hasn't all gone - if things are looking a bit dry add more wine. Adjust temperature and cooking time until the pork is done to your liking.

5. Remove pork and IMPORTANT! let it rest for about 10 mins. This will make it easier to carve. You can put the onions back in the oven to cook more if you like.

6. Carve and serve!

• 
  dubow says

  Dis looks delishus! YUM!

• 
  yongfook says

  fanx

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  theory says

  That looks like a nice lean cut.

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  KamanKaman says

  damnzzzz that looks delish

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  Larph says

  You're a brave sprout-eating man, too. Is there anything you can't do?

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  yongfook says

  you don't like sprouts? they are yummy dude. flatulent, though, of course.

• 
  Jaylene says

  Damn. :( Looks so good. LOL.

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  theory says

  Halving sprouts when you cook them will actually make them taste sweeter, because the denfense enzymes and precursors chemicals that give them the bitter taste are located in the fast growing shoots at the centre. They are highly water soluble, so if you halve the sprouts then the bitter taste leeches out of them. I spent the weekend researching the chemistry of various brassicae, because I was trying to get a new cabbage dish just right at home alone this weekend. No matter how sad and pathetic that may sound written out here, I can assure you it is much more so when you live it in real life :'(

• 
  yongfook says

  dude...I...I have no words. great tip though. (you absolute nutcase)

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  chanok says

  could you cook it slowly on a low temperature instead?? would that make the meat more tender?

• 
  rachel says

  chanok - a lower temperature would result in meat that's more tender, but then you wouldn't get crispy crackling, would you? it's the eternal dilemma of roasting meat.

• 
  Greenpeas says

  That looks delicious.

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