This has to be one of the yummiest dishes I have eaten in a long time and I am not particularly a big pork lover. I must admit that I have altered the recipe a little, this was originally due to the fact that Hubby got the wrong beans, but in hindsight I would always do it this way just to cut down on the faffing around and reduce the amount of prep.

There are a lot of ingredients and if you do it the original way it is a time consuming recipe, but doing my short cut will cut this down no end, so thank you Hubby for getting it wrong.

When I cooked this I put the meat in first, prepping this only takes minutes and you can pretty much forget about it. I then prepped all the bean ingredients, cooked it up to the point you bring it to the boil, then just turned it off and left it on the hob until 30 minutes from the end of the meat cooking time, then I put the beans on a low simmer and hey presto, dinner is done.
 
It can be a struggle to get perfect crackling, its one of those things that many people strive to achieve, well this recipe is foolproof. I have never had such fantastic crunchy crackling and the meat was moist and just fell apart, also and this surprised me, the pork was full of flavour, I often find pork a little boring and tasteless.
 
I think the pork would work in lots of other ways and I think I will always do mine like this from now on, but maybe serve it with mashed potato and savoy cabbage.
 
Buon appetito
pork belly

Crisp Pork Belly
2kg, boned & skin scored pork belly
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 table spoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 teaspoons sea salt

Heat the oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7.Coarsely grind the fennel seeds and black peppercorns using a pestle and mortar. Add the oregano, paprika and sea salt, and mix to combine.

Lay the pork belly on the work surface, skin side up, and rub the spice mixture into the pork, pushing it deep into the cuts in the skin.

Put in a roasting tin, skin-side up, and cook for 40 minutes until the skin starts to puff and crisp at the edges. Turn the oven down to 150c/fan 130c/gas 2 and cook for a further 2 hours.

Drain off any excess fat from the pan and turn the oven back up to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7. Cook the pork for a further 15 minutes until the skin crackles. Serve cut into slices with the baked beans.

pork belly
For the beans – serves 6

Dried Cannellini beans or 1 400g tin if doing my way
Olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons English mustard
2 teaspoons light brown soft sugar
2 teaspoons black treacle or molasses
1/2 rounded teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 table spoon of tamarind paste
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme

Using dried beans :-
Put the dried beans in a large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water and leave to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.The next day, drain and rinse the beans. Put in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently very gently for about 45 minutes, until tender, but not soft. Drain, keeping the cooking liquid.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large solid casserole dish. Add the onions and cook until starting to turn golden at the edges, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Add the mustard, sugar, treacle, smoked paprika, tomato puree, tamarind paste and chopped tomatoes to the pan, stir well and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the beans and 600ml of the cooking liquid, the bay leaf and sprig of thyme. Mix well, bring to the boil and cover with a tight fitting lid. Simmer for another 3 hours or until the beans are soft and the sauce has thickened, stirring the pot every now and then to ensure that the sauce does not dry out.

Using canned beans :-
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large solid casserole dish. Add the onions and cook until starting to turn golden at the edges, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Add the mustard, sugar, treacle, smoked paprika, tomato puree, tamarind paste and chopped tomatoes to the pan, stir well and cook for 30 seconds.

Strain the tin of cannellini beans over a measuring jug, saving the juices from the tin. Leaving the beans over the jug pour over cold water to rinse the beans and bring the liquid up to 600ml. Add the beans and the 600ml of the saved liquid, the bay leaf and sprig of thyme. Mix well, bring to the boil and cover with a tight fitting lid. Simmer for another 30 minutes or until the beans are soft and the sauce has thickened, stirring the pot every now and then to ensure that the sauce does not dry out.

 
 
 pork belly