Slow-cooked pork belly with warm lentil salad

Serves 4, with plenty for cold cuts Starters and mains

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Method

Preheat the oven to 110C/230F/ Gas 1⁄4. Lay the pork belly skin- side up in a roasting tray, rub the skin with some salt and slash with a very sharp blade if you want to create the best crackling later. Cook for 7-8 hours – the pork belly is kept moist and tender in its pool of rendered fat and juices.

To crisp the crackling, finish the pork belly at about 200C/400F/ Gas 6 for 5-10 minutes, or slide under a hot grill for a few minutes, not too close to the heat, and keep a close watch to make sure you don’t cinder the skin.

Pour off the rendered fat and meat juices into a pot or jar and leave to cool. This is dripping at its finest. Pull away the crackling and fight over who gets the biggest piece.

Serve the pork belly in thick slices. It does not need to be piping hot.

Rinse the lentils and check there are no stones in their midst. Put the lentils into a heavy saucepan and immerse in water so that the water level is about 7.5cm above the lentils. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary, until the lentils are tender. Drain, reserving about 100ml of the lentil water.

Tip the lentils into a serving bowl, toss with the vinegar, and some salt and black pepper. Leave the lentils to rest for a few minutes and then taste for salt and vinegar, adjusting as you like.

Salt the red pepper to soften, leaving it stand for a few minutes before adding as much as you like to the lentils along with the spring onions.

Pour the olive oil over the lentils and stir. If you need more moisture, add some of the reserved cooking liquid.

Sprinkle the warm lentils with the parsley and serve with the pork.