1.5kg/3lb 5oz pork belly
1tbsp fennel seeds
1tbsp flaky sea salt
1tsp black peppercorns
2 brown onions, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
5 bay leaves
10 sprigs thyme
3 small bulbs fennel
200ml/generous ¾ cup vermouth
24 gooseberries
2tbsp plain/all-purpose flour
500ml/2 cups chicken stock
1tsp Dijon mustard
At the first wedding we catered, I roasted a whole pig. If you ever find yourself in the same situation, treat it simply: make deep cuts in the skin and rub coarse salt and fennel seeds over the whole thing, then roast it over a fire, or in a specially designed oven. For a more reasonably sized event, a cut of pork belly is entirely sufficient. It’s also a joy in summer: leave it in a low oven, and eat it warm, rather than hot, with some seasonal fennel and sharp fruit.
Serves 6
1. Preheat the oven to 220C fan/475F/gas 9. Score the skin of the pork, cutting through the fat, but not the meat. Grind the fennel seeds, salt, and pepper together in a mortar and pestle, then rub the spices into the skin of the pork.
2. Arrange the chopped vegetables in one layer in the bottom of a roasting tin. Add the bay leaves and thyme. Place the pork on top and transfer to the oven.
3. Leave for 15 minutes in the blisteringly hot oven, before reducing it to 150C fan/340F/gas 3. Roast for 2 hours.
4. Slice the fennel bulbs in half lengthways. Pull the tray out of the oven, tip in the vermouth and 500ml/2 cups water, and nestle the fennel in among the vegetables. Return to the oven for an hour and a half. In the final 15 minutes, add the gooseberries to the pan.
5. Test the meat with a fork – you want it to be falling apart. Pull it out of the pan, and leave it to rest under a loose tent of foil. Remove the gooseberries and fennel, and set aside.
6. Place the contents of the tray, including the soft vegetables, over a low heat. Add the flour, and stir it through the vegetables and meat juices. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken stock and stir until thickened. Finally, taste and season with salt, pepper, and the mustard. Strain, and serve with the meat, gooseberries, and fennel.