Pork Belly Roast

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2½ hours


1.5kg pork belly
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 sticks of celery, halved
1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
A small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
600ml water or vegetable stock

1. Preheat your oven to full whack, it needs to be at least 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.

2. Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side upwards. Get yourself a small, sharp knife and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat.

3. Rub salt right into all the scores you’ve just made, pulling the skin apart a little if you have to. Brush any excess salt off the surface of the skin and turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a little more salt and a little black pepper. Place your pork, skin side-up, in a roasting tray big enough to hold the pork and the vegetables, and place in the hot oven.

4. Roast for about half an hour until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling. Turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and roast for another hour. Take out of the oven and baste with the fat in the bottom of the tray.

5. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Add all the veg, garlic and thyme to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork on top of everything and pop the tray back in the oven. Roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender. Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover with tin foil and leave to rest while you make your gravy.

6. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you’ve got a nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.

7. Serve the pork with the crackling, gravy, some creamy mashed potato, nice fresh greens and a dollop of English mustard.

Beetroot Hummus

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 40 minutes

Serves 8

Difficulty: Easy

500g (1lb) beetroot, trimmed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
400g (13oz) can chickpeas, drained
1 tablespoon tahini
90g (3oz) plain yoghurt
3 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup (60ml/2 fl oz) lemon juice
½ cup (125ml/4 fl oz) vegetable stock

1. Scrub the beetroot well. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the beetroot for 40 minutes, or until soft and cooked through. Drain and cool slightly before peeling.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 2 minutes, or until soft. Add the cumin and cook for a further 1 minute, or until fragrant.

3. Chop the beetroot and place in a food processor or blender with the onion mixture, chickpeas, tahini, yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice and stock, and process until smooth. With the motor running, add the remaining oil in a thin steady stream. Process until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Spoon the hummus into a serving bowl and serve with Turkish bread.

Nutrition per serving

Protein 5g; Fat 11.5g; Carbohydrate 12g; Dietary Fibre 4.5g; Cholesterol 1.5mg; 725kJ (175kcal)

Note

Beetroot hummus can be a great accompaniment to a main meal or is delicious as part of a meze platter with bruschetta or crusty bread. Its vivid colour sparks up any table.

Variation

You can use 500g (1lb) of any vegetable to make the hummus. Try carrot or pumpkin.

Vegetable Chips

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves 6-8

Difficulty: Medium

250g (8oz) orange sweet potato
250g (8oz) beetroot, peeled
250g (8oz) potato
Oil, for deep frying


1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Run a sharp vegetable peeler along the length of the sweet potato to create ribbons. Cut the beetroot into paper-thin slices with a sharp vegetable peeler or knife. Cut the potato into thin slices, using a mandolin slicer or knife with a crinkle-cut blade.

2. Fill a deep heavy-based saucepan one-third full of oil and heat until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 10 seconds. Cook the vegetables in batches for about 30 seconds, or until golden and crisp. You may need to turn them with tongs or a long-handled metal spoon. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

3. Place all the vegetable chips on a baking tray and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining vegetables. Serve with drinks.

Nutrition per serving (8)
Protein 2g; Fat 5g; Carbohydrate 12g; Dietary Fibre 2g; Cholestorol 0mg; 413kJ (99kcal)

Note: If you don't have a mandolin or crinkle-cut knife at home, simply use a sharp knife to cut fine slices. The cooking time for the chips will remain the same.