Pork Belly, Radicchio and Hazelnut Salad

Serves 4-5 people as main course

Takes 3 ½ hours

This warm salad is a compelling combination of flavours and textures. It is the perfect solution to posh low budget eating. The pork is cooked on a platform of onions and fennel, which add flavour to it, but also absorb a lot of the pork fat. These are served on the side, so this makes this recipe ideal for groups of people who prefer different amounts of fat. The salad itself is dressed with a wonderfully sharp vinaigrette to offset the pork. You could also give this dish a more Asian feel by adding soy and sliced up ginger to the onions and use toasted sesame oil and ground up star anise for the skin rub and the salad dressing.

You’ll need a small shallow roasting tin, just bigger than the meat. A cooks blow torch is also useful but not obligatory.

120g hazelnuts, chopped roughly

2 onions, sliced 1cm thick

4 slices of fennel bulb sliced 1cm thick (optional)

1 kg pork belly – the leanest cut that you can find

2 teasp fennel seeds

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 large head of radicchio or any other slightly bitter leaves you can find

Salad dressing

4 tbsp hazelnut oil (or use olive or walnut oil)

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• Heat your oven to 180c and roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. They should slightly change colour but not burn. Leave to cool. Set aside.
• Turn the oven up to 240c. Whilst this is happening, pack the onion and fennel bulb slices onto the bottom of your roasting tin to create a platform for the meat. Score the skin of the pork belly to create a 1cm grid all over, about 5 mm deep.
• In a pestle and mortar, grind up the fennel seeds with the salt, pepper and add a generous glug of oil. Massage this into the pork skin, and place the meat on top of the onions and fennel, skin side up.
• Place the baking tray in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or so until the skin is browned all over. Turn the oven down to 160c and add a little boiling water to the roasting tin to stop the onions/fennel from burning. Continue cooking for a further 2 hours adding boiling water every 30 minutes to stop the onions from burning.
• Once cooked, remove the belly pork from the roasting tin and allow it to rest. Using a slotted spoon, remove the fennel and onions and place in a small bowl for serving. If you have a cook’s blow torch this is a good time to give the pork crackling a short blast of heat to ensure that it is really crisp. Separate the meat from the crackling.
• Make the salad dressing. Core the radicchio and tear the leaves into a large salad bowl. Add a tablespoon of warm pork juices to the leaves and mix well with your hands. Mix in the salad dressing, and add the hazelnuts. Mix them well to combine. Finally, tear up the pork belly and add it to the salad. Serve immediately the roasted onions and fennel and the crackling on the side.