Pork belly one tray roast and roast potatoes

A one-tray-wonder - packed with pork, carrots and spices - set to keep everyone in the family full and happy.

Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  6

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

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Ingredients

• 1.6 kg piece of pork belly, skin on
• Sea salt, to taste
• 4 carrots, unpeeled
• 8 baby brown onions, unpeeled
• 1 bulb fennel, halved
• 2 small bulbs garlic
• 4 bay leaves
• ½ bunch sage
• ½ bunch thyme
• ½ bunch marjoram
• Pinch of nutmeg 
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half 
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 2 cm piece ginger, sliced
• 4 rashers streaky bacon, finely chopped
• 330 ml bottle sweet cider
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  
  

My roast potatoes

• 8-10 Desiree Potatoes, peeled and quartered lengthways
• Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
• 1 bulb garlic, smashed skin on
• 6 stalks rosemary
• 8 sprigs thyme
• 100 g butter, chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Rosemary vinegar

• 300 ml white wine vinegar
• 1 small bunch rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar

Resting time: 30 min

Instructions

1. Using a sharp knife, score the pork skin. Place on a tray and rub the skin all over with salt. Place, uncovered on the second shelf of the fridge (or underneath the fan) and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
   
   
2. When ready to cook the pork, preheat the oven to 260˚C.
   
   
3. Place the carrots, onion, fennel and garlic in a large roasting dish. Scatter with the herbs, spices, lemon, ginger and bacon. Pour the cider and a good drizzle of olive oil over the top. Place the pork on top and sprinkle with a little more sea salt. Roast for 40 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180˚C and roast for another hour or until tender.
   
   
4. For the roast potatoes, place the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted water and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes start to break up. Drain in colander and allow to steam dry for about 10 minutes. For the best results, cook the potatoes the day before and place uncovered on a tray in the refrigerator overnight to dry out.
   
   
5. Preheat the oven to 220˚C Heat about 1 cm of vegetable oil in a large, flame proof, heavy-based roasting tray over medium-high heat. Add the cooled potatoes to the oil in a single layer. Season to taste, then roast for 10 minutes or until the base of each potato is golden and crisp. Turn the potatoes over, add the garlic, herbs and butter, toss to combine well and roast for another 15 minutes or until golden and crisp all over.
   
   
6. Meanwhile, for the rosemary vinegar, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, then pour into the bottom of a wide serving dish. When the potatoes are done, remove from the oven, strain off the oil and check the seasoning. Pile the roast potatoes on top of the rosemary vinegar and serve with the roast pork, crackling and veggies.

 

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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Family Dinner

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