Duncan Cruickshanks' Slow Cooked Belly of Dingley Dell Pork, with Braised Beetroot Leaves

This recipe hails from a Masterclass I attended at The Hospital Club, which featured Pig's Head Terrine to start. Both recipes, by Duncan Cruickshanks, use Dingley Dell pork. You can read the previous post by clicking here, or click here to contact Dingley Dell to purchase their pork, arrange a group visit to the farm, or a nose to tail butchery demo.

Butchery demos are very important. As my dear friend Kelly Garet observed, it is 'important for when I have a farm and need to slaughter my own pigs.' Right she is too: skills like this will always come in handy. Here's Duncan's recipe. It is divine and serves 6

Ingredients:

Dingley Dell Pork Belly (slaughtered at 24 weeks)               

Smoked Bacon                              

Shallots                                         

Garlic                                              

English Mustard Powder             

Ground Mace                      

Fresh Sage                            

Salt & Pepper                       

For the Braised Beetroot Leaves:

Beetroot Leaves                  

Smoked Bacon Lardons      

Shallots diced                       

White Wine                         

Garlic crushed                    

Salt & Pepper                       

Pre-heat oven to 220°c, then trim the skin from the pork belly and retain.

Trim the underbelly, the layer of fat above the ribs, and then the ribs (the ribs you can roast with the skin & treat yourself to later).

trim the underbelly

remove ribs

remove underbelly for dicing

Dice the underbelly with the bacon, garlic, shallots, mustard powder, ground mace, sage and several good pinches of salt and pepper.

Cut a square of baking parchment and foil big enough to leave 5cm around the outside of the pork belly.

Spread a thin layer of the mince over the pork belly.

Place the pork belly on the parchment on foil. Then, using the parchment & foil, roll the pork belly tightly in on itself and wrap the foil and the parchment around the rolled pork belly.  

Twist the ends in opposite directions to tighten the foil and parchment.

Place on a baking tray and into the oven for 20 mins.  After 20 mins. reduce the heat to 150°c and cook for a further 3 hours. 

While you are waiting for the pork to cook, make your crackling by cutting the pork skin from earlier into strips and coating with salt (you can do the same with the ribs). Place on a wire rack at 150°c for 45 mins.

For the braised beetroot leaves, wash the leaves 3 to 4 times and drain thoroughly

Place the shallots, lardoons and garlic in a pan and gently sweat ensuring the shallots do not colour.

Roughly chop the beetroot leaves and add to the pan along with the white wine, cooking slowly, uncovered until the stems are tender.

To Serve place a healthy spoonful of the braised beetroot on each plate. 

When you take the pork out of the oven and cut open the foil, be sure to collect the juices that will spill forth in a pan.

Evenly slice the rolled pork belly into 6 pieces and place on top of the beetroot leaves and pour over the juices from the foil.

To help you slice it evenly, you can wrap the pork in clingfilm to help keep the shape.

Place the strips of crackling on top of the sliced pork belly and serve.