Slow-roasted pork belly with shatteringly crisp crackling, served with a sharp, barely-sweetened Bramley apple sauce.
Prep
20 mins
Cook
2h 30m
Servings
6
Per serving
£2.60
Difficulty
medium
The crackling is all about a dry skin and a blast of high heat at the end - score it, salt it, and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight if you can spare the time.
Pat the pork skin completely dry with kitchen paper. If time allows, leave it uncovered in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to dry out further - this is the secret to good crackling.
Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Rub the skin with olive oil and then really work the sea salt into the scored lines.
Lay the onion slices and thyme in the base of a roasting tin as a trivet and sit the pork on top, skin-side up.
Roast for 30 minutes at the high heat until the skin starts to blister, then turn the oven down to 160C (140C fan) and roast for a further 1 hour 45 minutes.
Turn the oven back up to 220C (200C fan) for a final 15-20 minutes to finish crisping the crackling - watch it closely so it doesn't catch. Rest for 15 minutes before carving.
While the pork rests, put the apples, sugar, lemon juice, bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan. Cover and cook over a low heat for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples collapse into a soft, tart sauce.
Carve the pork into thick slices, breaking the crackling into shards, and serve with the warm apple sauce.