Pork Belly with a Cider and Chorizo Sauce

Pork belly is now a common cut for barbecues and roasts. It’s easy to do and needs a robust sauce to bring out the flavour. The cooking method will not produce enough crispiness – that needs to be prepared and roasted differently but the slices will be tender. We are using a cider and chorizo sauce which gives it a Spanish feel but barbecue sauces also work really well. Nothing tastes better than a tender piece of belly pork.

Belly pork is also served with new potatoes, Hasselback potatoes or dauphinoise potatoes, and greens but these pieces can easily be put inside a bap or bun using the sauce to coat for superb flavour.

Ingredients:

• 600g pork belly strips
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Sauce:

• 1/2 pt. dry cider
• 200g chorizo – mashed up
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and then chopped finely
• 2 bay leaf

Preparation:

1. Heat the oven to 160ºC/ 140ºC fan/gas mark 4.
2. Dry the belly slices with kitchen paper. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. The chorizo need not be fully mashed up.
4. Boil the cider with the chorizo in a small saucepan and then simmer for up to 20 minutes. Add the bay leaves.
5. Toss the belly pork pieces in the sauce to act as a baste and place these in a roasting tin.
6. Cover with foil but not tightly and roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes until they are tender.
7. Remove the foil and turn on the grill to its maximum setting.
8. Grill the meat for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn halfway and brush some more sauce over the meaty part of the pieces until they are slightly sticky. Let the rind brown and even char slightly.