The point of my recipe is to make the preparation and cooking of your Christmas lunch as simple as possible, hence urging you to use my prepared pork belly (Beehive Craft Series by Peter Gordon twice-cooked five-spiced pork belly). If you have time, you can of course use a slab of pork belly and cook it from scratch.
Ingredients
| 6 | Kumara, skins scrubbed |
| 4 packets | Pork belly (Main) |
| 200 g | Green beans, ends trimmed |
| 200 g | Peas, frozen or fresh |
| 80 g | Tahini |
| 2 Tbsp | Sesame seeds, toasted |
| 1 | Lemon, for 2 tbsp of juice |
| 2 Tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 2 | Large ripe tomatoes |
| 100 g | Brazil nuts, toasted and roughly chopped (or use pecan nuts) |
| 3 | Apples, slightly sour ones work best |
| 1 Tbsp | Tarragon leaves, or shredded basil |
Directions
- Turn your oven to 240 degC. If you have a non-stick pan then heat it up. Drizzle with a little oil and place the pork belly pieces in their skin facing down. Don't overcrowd the pan, and cook until the skin turns golden, then place in a roasting dish lined with foil, skin facing up.
- If you don't have a non-stick pan don't worry - sit the pork belly on a foil-lined tray, skin facing up.
- Place in the oven, near the top, and cook for 30 minutes.
- As soon as the belly goes in, cut the kumara into chunks and toss with a little salt and pepper and olive oil. Tip on a roasting tray, scatter with a few tablespoons of water and cook until done.
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the beans and cook for two minutes, then add the peas and bring back to the boil. Drain into a colander and leave to cool.
- Stir half the lemon juice into the tahini with two tablespoons of cold water and when paste-like, mix in the sesame seeds and then mix in the beans and peas. Keep out of the fridge.
- Dice the tomatoes and mix with the remaining lemon juice, the extra virgin olive oil and the nuts. Thinly slice the apples - don't peel them but do discard the core. Cut into julienne (matchsticks) and add to the tomato with the herbs. Mix gently.
- By now the belly should be cooked and the skin crispy. If it isn't, turn the grill on in the oven, open the door a little, and cook until it crisps up.
- To serve, make it look effortless and casual (which it is) by placing the kumara and bean salad on each plate, then sit a piece of pork belly on top and pile the salsa on last of all.