Crispy Tuscan Pork Belly

There isn’t anything much better that juicy, tender pork with crispy skin.

This roast pork belly is absolutely delicious! The meat is juicy and succulent, flavoured with the Tuscan herbs that create the famous Italian Porchetta – fennel, rosemary, thyme and garlic.

The secret to perfect crispy crackle is to get organized and let the pork dry out in the fridge from the day before. It also gives time for the marinade to work it’s wonders and deliver maximum flavour.  However, if you don’t have the time, or aren’t that organised, give it at least 2 hours prior to cooking.

This is a real crowd pleaser – you may want to double the recipe.

Crispy Tuscan Pork Belly

Crispy, juicy and full of flavour - this pork belly is pretty hard to resist.

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Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 kg pork belly
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp rosemary leaves
• 2 tbsp thyme leaves
• salt
• olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons

Method

 

Ideally the day before - but at least 2 hours before cooking

1. Score the skin of the pork belly at 1 cm intervals. You need a really sharp knife to do this as the skin is tough. I find a Stanley knife works really well, but be careful not to cut yourself.
2. Put the fennel, peppercorns, garlic, rosemary, thyme and 1 tsp salt into the bowl of a small food processor, or a mortar and pestle, and pulse or pound to a rough paste. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and mix to combine.
3. Rub the flesh (not the skin) of the pork belly all over with the herb mixture. Place on a wire rack in a roasting tin and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight if you can. This will marinate the meat and also help the skin to dry out, meaning crispier crackle.

To Cook

1. Preheat your oven to its hottest setting. Remove the pork from the fridge and allow it to sit out until it is room temperature. Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil over the pork and rub a good tablespoon of salt into the skin.
2. Cook for 10–15 minutes, or until the skin is bubbling and golden, then squeeze over the lemon juice and turn the heat down to 170°C.
3. Cook for a further 1½hours.
4. Finally, crank up the heat to 200°C and cook for up to a further 30 minutes, or until crackling is blistered and crisp.
5. Cut up into rough chunks and serve.

Recipe from my book – Food for Sharing Italian Style, New Holland Publishers, Photo – Jonathan VDK