Roast pork belly with Lemon and Thyme

Prepped has been printed.  This,  I am told is the calm before the storm.  The summer is filling up with cookery demonstrations, book signings and all sorts of other very exciting things.  In the mean time I am taking the opportunity to kick back and enjoy a month of playing with the children, visiting friends,  tidying up the house, and updating the blog.  So I thought i'd share one of my favourite things to eat - Roast belly of pork.  It has a crisp crunchy cracking with succulent melt in the mouth meat, alongside the aromatic, lemon, thyme and garlic .. and what’s more it takes minutes to have in the oven so you can relax and enjoy.

Serves 6

Prep 10 minutes

Cooking time 4 - 5 hours

6 cloves garlic

Peel and juice from 1 lemon

Handful of thyme

1.5 kg pork belly

2 tbs sea salt

Juice of 2 lemons

1tsp sugar

2 tbs single cream

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

2 On a roasting tin place the unpeeled garlic cloves, the lemon peel, the thyme and unpeeled garlic under where the pork will sit in the tin.

3 Make sure the pork skin is scored. (It’s much easier to ask the butcher to do this)  Pour over the juice of the first lemon and scatted the salt over.  Rub into the skin and place into the roasting tin on top of the garlic, thyme and lemon peel.

4 Pop into the oven and drop the heat to 300/150/ Gas mark 2

5 Cook for about 4 hours on this low heat until the skin is golden and crisp and the meat is tender.

6 Remove from the heat and take the meat out of the pan, and set to one side to rest.  Strain the juice into a pan and add the lemon juice and sugar.  Boil this for 2 or 3 minutes effectually reducing the liquid and concentrating the taste of the sauce. Add the cream, stir.

Slice the pork, drizzle with the sauce and serve with pan-fried potatoes with rosemary or thyme.