Belly pork with leek potato mash recipe

This delicious belly pork with leek potato mash recipe is comforting food at its finest. Easy to make, the meat is tender and will fall of the bone. This recipe serves 4 people and will take a couple of hours to prepare and cook. The mashed potato recipe is made with leek which adds a great depth of flavour to this dish. Serve with greens like tenderstem broccoli, peas and spinach or root vegetables like carrot and parsnip would go well with this cut of meat too. This pork belly makes the perfect roast dinner alternative. Tender belly pork is delicious in this slow-cooked roast with buttery mash. Support farmers by buying British pork.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• Grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 2tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• About 600g (1¼lb) piece belly pork, rind scored
• A little olive oil
• 1 Bramley apple
• Knob of butter
• 1 tbsp cornflour,
• A little honey and soy sauce, for gravy

For the mash

• 1kg (2¼lb) potatoes (e.g. Maris Piper), peeled and cut into chunks
• 3tbsp milk
• Large knob of butter
• 1 medium leek (about 200g/7oz), trimmed, washed and shredded

Method

1. Set the oven to gas mark 7 or 220°C. Line a shallow roasting tin with foil. Add the garlic, lemon zest and the chopped herbs and seasoning, then mix in 150ml (¼ pint) water.
2. Dry the skin of the belly pork. Rub it with a little oil, then rub in a little salt. Put the pork in the roasting tin. Bring the foil round to keep the juices in tight to the meat, but not over the pork skin. Roast for 20-30 mins to crisp the skin, then turn the oven temperature down to gas mark 3 or 160°C and cook for 1½ hrs, until the pork is tender.
3. Core the apple, score it round the centre and put in a dish. Put a knob of butter down the middle and put it in the oven to cook for 1 hr, for sauce.
4. To make the mash: Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender, drain well and put back in the pan to dry. Add the milk and heat through until it's bubbling. Mash the potatoes roughly. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the shredded leeks until softened. Stir the buttery leeks into the mash and season well.
5. Take the meat out of the oven and leave it on a board to rest for 5 mins. Remove the skin from the cooked apple and mash the flesh in the dish, adding 2tsp of the pork cooking juices and some chopped sage leaves, if you like. Thicken the cooking juices with about 1tbsp cornflour to make gravy, and add a little honey and soy sauce for colour and flavour. Cut the meat into thick slices and serve with the mash and apple sauce; spoon gravy round. Add some quick-fried sage leaves, if you like. (Not suitable for freezing).