Tender, juicy pork belly with crispy crackling on top, served in a spicy tomato sauce with sweet potatoes.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time2 hourshrs45 minutesmins
Total Time3 hourshrs15 minutesmins
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the marinade
6bay leaves
½tspsalt
2dried piri piri chilisseeded
1/4tspsmoked paprika
1tspsweet paprika
1/2tspblack pepper
4tbspolive oil
For the roast
1kgpork belly
2sweet potatoes
2onionsroughly chopped
4clovesof garlicfinely chopped
2dried piri piri chilisseeded
2cupspassata
1/2cupwater
1/2cupwhite wine
1/2tspsalt
1/2tspblack pepper
2twigs of fresh rosemary
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 392°F
In a pestle and portar smash up the bay leaves with the salt until you have a paste. Add the chilis, smoked and sweet paprika, black pepper and olive oil and work it some more, until everything is smooth.
With a sharp knife score the skin of the pork belly in a tight criss cross pattern. Be careful not to cut into the meat underneath.
Massage the marinade into the pork belly, giving special attention to all the cuts on top.
Place the onions and garlic on the bottom of a roasting tray. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Add the the roasting try.
Finely slice the chilis and add them to the roasting tray.
Place the pork belly on top and roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 200°C / 392°F.
After 45 minutes take the roast out.
Add the passata, white wine and water to the tray. Season with salt and pepper and stir well.
Turn your oven down to 170°C / 338°F and roast the pork belly in the sauce for at least 2 hours.
In the final half hour of the roasting process add two twigs of fresh rosemary to the top of the roast.
Skim the fat from the top of the sauce before serving.
Serve with anything you fancy. Fresh bread, a green salad or some rice.