Читать книгу Tony & Giorgio - Tony Allan, Giorgio Locatelli - Страница 15

Belly pork has a lot more going for it than the traditional roasting cuts. For a start, there is a nice flat expanse of rind to turn into much-loved crackling, while the layers of fat mean that the meat is virtually self-basting as it cooks. Tony

Serves 6-8

1.25kg/5 lb piece of boned belly pork

2 carrots, sliced lengthways into quarters

1 large onion, thickly sliced

2 celery stalks, thickly sliced

1 large leek, thickly sliced

800ml/1½ pints chicken stock

600ml/1 pint white wine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the apple sauce:

6 dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced

50g/2 oz caster sugar

large knob of butter

juice of ½ lemon

For the baked cabbage:

1 small Savoy cabbage

1 streaky bacon rasher

large knob of butter

Score the rind of the pork with a very sharp knife (a Stanley knife does the job well), being careful not to cut right through the fat to the meat. Place the pork in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 40 minutes, then drain and pat dry well.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Place the carrots, onion, celery and leek in a large roasting tin and put the pork on top, skin-side up. Pour 100ml/3½fl oz of the chicken stock into the tin, place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Turn the oven right down to 140°C/275°F/Gas Mark 1 and cook for 3 hours. If the crackling browns too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of foil.

For the apple sauce, place the apple slices in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water, then cover and cook gently until soft and pulpy. Beat them to make a smooth sauce, adding the sugar, butter and lemon juice to taste.

For the cabbage, remove the outside leaves and trim the core. Cut out a small piece from the top of the cabbage and insert the bacon, butter and a little seasoning. Wrap tightly in foil and place in the oven with the pork for the last hour of cooking.

When ready to serve, remove the pork from the roasting tin and leave to rest in a warm place (if the crackling hasn’t crisped up, raise the oven temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and give it another 5-10 minutes first). Place the roasting tin on the hob. Heat gently, scraping up all the caramelised vegetables and meat from the bottom of the tin. Add the white wine and simmer rapidly until reduced by half. Pour in the remaining stock and simmer for a further 5 minutes, pressing the vegetables to a pulp, to make a gravy. Strain though a fine sieve and adjust the seasoning.

Slice the pork, cut the cabbage into wedges and serve with the apple sauce and

gravy.