SERVES 4
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg boned pork belly, skin scored, at room temperature
- 250ml (1 cup) boiling water
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or good quality animal fat, melted
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and coarsely ground
- 2 onions, sliced into rounds
- 1 large fennel bulb, thickly sliced
- 1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
- 15 thyme sprigs 2 fresh bay leaves
- 350 ml Brown Chicken Bone Broth (recipe in Easy Keto Dinners)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard lemon wedges, to serve
Preheat the oven to 240°C (220°C fan-forced) – you need to start by blasting the pork with heat. Place the pork belly on a wire rack in the kitchen sink, carefully pour the boiling water all over the skin, then pat dry with paper towel.
Method
Rub the pork skin with the coconut oil or animal fat and season with a good amount of salt. Rub the ground fennel into the flesh and place the pork in a large roasting tin. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the skin starts to bubble. Remove the tin from the oven, carefully lift out the pork and place on a plate.
Reduce the oven temperature to 140°C (120°C fan-forced).
Scatter the onion, fennel slices, garlic, thyme and bay leaves into the tin. Pour in the broth, mix in the mustard and season with salt and pepper. Return the pork to the tin and continue to roast for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the flesh is very tender. Transfer the pork to a plate and rest for 15 minutes, keeping warm. If the crackling isn’t crisp enough, place the pork, crackling-side up, under a hot grill for a few minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Return the tin to the oven and roast the veggies for 10 minutes, or until golden.
Carve the pork belly into thick slices and serve with the roasted veggies and the lemon wedges on the side.
