COOKING DIRECTIONS
Toast the fennel seeds and peppercorns in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes, this will release their natural oils and aroma, pound them together in a pestle and mortar with some flaked sea salt; add the crushed garlic, bruise the thyme a little with the back of a knife and strip from the woody stem add to the pestle and pound to a paste.
Mix the pounded paste with 2tbls of olive oil and rub all over the flesh of the pork. Cover and chill, leave to rest in the fridge to marinate for a few hours or preferably overnight.
When you are ready to cook, rub the skin of the joint all over with plenty of salt and 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Sit the joint on a wire rack and roast at 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. After this time squeeze the lemons over the skin and turn the heat down to 180C/160 fan/gas4 roast for a further 2-2 ½ hrs. A late blast of heat in the final 15mins will help to crisp the crackling.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest somewhere warm for 20 mins. Finally, carve into chunks serve with roasted vegetables and enjoy!
PREP TIME
20 MINS
COOK TIME
3 HOURS
SERVES
4 PEOPLE
ABOUT THIS CUT
The cut needed for this recipe comes from the pig’s belly. It is still a relatively cheap cut, and yields beautiful soft flesh and crisp crackling when slow roasted