Ingredients

• 5kg/11lb piece of pork belly - ask the butcher to remove the ribs and trim off
• the excess fat
• 25g/1oz coarse salt
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
• roughly chopped
• large bunch fresh sage leaves
• roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds (if you are lucky enough to find wild fennel
• use it
• instead
• finely chopped - its flavour is unique)
• 8 garlic cloves
• finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp runny honey
• freshly ground black pepper
• 400g/14oz small new potatoes
• scrubbed and halved
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves
• unpeeled and squashed
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 230C/445F/Gas 8. Lay the pork belly skin-side down onto a clean flat surface.
• Sprinkle the salt and coarsely ground black pepper over it
• rubbing them well into the meat with your finger.
• Leave to rest for ten minutes so the salt and pepper settle well into the meat. Then sprinkle the herbs
• fennel seeds and garlic evenly over it.
• Next tie up the meat. You will need ten pieces of string
• each about 30cm/12 inches long. Carefully roll the meat up width-ways and tie it very tightly with string in the middle of the joint. Then tie at either end about 1cm/½ inch from the edge and keep tying along the joint until you have used up all the string. The filling should be well wrapped
• if any excess filling escapes from the sides
• push it in.
• With your hands
• massage one tablespoon of the olive oil all over the joint. Then rub the remaining salt and some more black pepper over it.
• Grease a large roasting tin with the remaining olive oil and place the pork in it.
• Roast for ten minutes
• then turn it over. After 15 minutes
• reduce the oven temperature to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and cover the meat with aluminium foil. (If you like the crackling very crisp
• don't bother with the foil
• but remember that the porchetta needs to be sliced thinly and crispy crackling will make this difficult.)
• Roast for three hours.
• Remove the joint from the oven and coat with honey
• drizzling some of the juices from the roasting tin all over it too.
• Insert a fork in either side of the joint and lift it on to a wooden board. If you are serving the porchetta immediately
• place the roasting tin on the hob and stir with a wooden spoon
• scraping up all the caramelised bits from the base of the tin
• until the juices from the meat reduce and thicken slightly. Slice the joint thinly and serve with the sauce. Alternatively
• leave the meat to cool and slice when needed. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.
• For the sautéed potatoes
• cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender
• then drain.
• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and rosemary
• followed by the potatoes. Allow to colour on all sides over a fairly high heat
• stirring now and again to prevent them sticking to the pan.
• Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with the porchetta.