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Slow-roasted pork belly with red wine poached pear salad

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  • High in protein
  • High in dietary fibre
  • Seafood free
  • Shellfish free
  • Wheat free
  • Soy free
  • Sesame free
  • Peanut free
  • Nut free
  • Lactose free
  • Gluten free
  • Egg free
  • Dairy free

Served with a red wine poached pear salad, this slow-roasted pork belly recipe makes for a decadent and impressive meal.

  • Serves4, with leftovers
  • Cook time3 hour
  • Prep time15 minutes, + overnight drying, cooling & 10 mins resting time\r\n
Slow-roasted pork belly with red wine poached pear salad

Ingredients

  • 1.3kg Coles Australian Pork Belly Roast Boneless
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 2 red onions, cut into thin wedges
  • 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken stock
  • 4 firm pears, peeled
  • 2 cups (500ml) dry red wine or cranberry juice
  • 1 cinnamon quill or stick
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 1 tbs caster sugar
  • 1 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 120g baby rocket leaves
  • 1 small fennel, finely shaved

Check ingredient labels to make sure they meet your specific dietary requirements and always consult a health professional before changing your diet. View dietary information here.

Percentage Daily Intake information on our recipes is calculated using the nutrition reference values for an average Australian adult.

Method

  1. Step 1

    Place pork on a baking tray. Pat the rind dry with paper towel and use a small sharp knife to score the rind at 1cm intervals. Place pork in the fridge, uncovered, overnight to dry out the rind.

  2. Step 2

    Preheat oven to 140°C. Place pork on a clean work surface. Drizzle with 2 tsp oil and sprinkle with fennel seeds and salt. Place the onion in the base of a roasting pan. Arrange the pork over the onion. Pour the stock around the pork in the pan. Roast for 2 hours.

  3. Step 3

    Increase oven to 230°C. Roast the pork for a further 30 mins or until the rind crackles and the pork is cooked through. Loosely cover with foil and set aside for 10 mins to rest.

  4. Step 4

    Meanwhile, place pears in a small saucepan. Add the wine or cranberry juice, cinnamon, star anise and sugar and bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover the pears with a disc of baking paper to keep pears submerged in the poaching liquid. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 hour or until tender. Transfer pears to a heatproof bowl. Return the poaching liquid to the heat and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 mins or until the liquid reduces by half. Reserve 1 tbs of the poaching liquid in a small bowl. Drizzle the remaining poaching liquid over the pears. Set aside to cool.

  5. Step 5

    Place the vinegar, mustard, honey, remaining oil and reserved wine mixture in a screw-top jar. Shake until well combined.

  6. Step 6

    Cut the pears in half. Place the rocket, fennel and pear in a serving bowl and drizzle with dressing. Thickly slice the pork and serve with salad.

Pork belly recipe

The humble pork belly roast is a family favourite in many Australian households, and is a great choice to take your Sunday roast to new heights. With its succulent meat and crispy, caramelised crackling, an easy pork belly recipe is always a winner.

The versatile cut is a cornerstone of a number of cuisines and lends itself well to a variety of cooking methods, but nothing beats low and slow. Slow roasting is one of the best ways to cook pork belly, ensuring juicy slices of pork with a crunchy and flavoursome decadent crackling.

Slow roasting also delivers an impressive meal for pretty minimal effort, with the oven doing all the hard work to guarantee a perfect roast. Easy to prepare but full of flavour, a slow roasted crispy pork belly will become a best-loved recipe once you’ve nailed the cooking technique.

How to cook pork belly in the oven

The versatility of pork belly makes it a go-to for families, with roast pork sure to satisfy a crowd. The cut makes for a wholesome midweek meal, but it’s also easy to elevate your humble roast to something restaurant-worthy. While there are many ways to cook pork, we like to cook our pork belly in the oven to guarantee juicy meat and a blistered crackling.

To cook pork belly, begin by placing it on a baking tray. Pat the rind dry with paper towel and use a small, sharp knife to score the rind at 1cm intervals. Place it in the fridge, uncovered, overnight to dry out the rind. Drying out the pork overnight takes the crackling even further to ensure a crunchier and more consistent crispy pork belly crackling.

When it’s ready to cook, preheat the oven to 140°C. Place the pork on a clean work surface and drizzle with 2 tsp olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes and fennel seeds. Scatter red onion wedges in the base of a roasting pan and place pork belly on top, then pour chicken stock around the pork and roast for 2 hours. Increase the oven to 230°C and cook the pork for a further 30 mins or until the rind crackles and the pork is cooked through (internal temperature after resting should be 71ºC). Loosely cover with foil and set aside for 10 mins to rest, then thickly cut into pork belly slices and serve.

Crackling – the hero of crispy pork belly

Any pork connoisseur worth their salt will tell you that the crackling can make or break a roast pork belly. A deeply caramelised, shatteringly crisp crackling is the goal to strive for. Taking the time to get your pork skin as dry as possible before cooking will guarantee a perfect crackling. Thoroughly pat any moisture off the skin and, if you have time, leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight to air dry. Before cooking, score the pork belly (ensuring you slice only the skin and not the meat) to allow heat to penetrate through the fat.

Salt will draw moisture to the surface and help the fat render – we recommend using sea salt flakes. Make sure you rub the salt into the score marks to draw out the most moisture possible.

Now get cooking

Once you’ve mastered how to make pork belly and crispy crackling, your options are endless. Add small slices of pork and fresh vegetables to bao buns or rice paper rolls for a quick and easy lunch, or top salads, stir fries or curries with the juicy meat.

For other takes on slow cooked pork we can’t go past Courtney Roulston’s Chinese slow roast pork shoulder with smashed cucumbers, or a slow-roasted lime and ginger pork shoulder. For a dish full of flavour, but quick on cooking time, try a fuss-free sweet and sour pork that can be cooked in 15 mins, or set and forget this slow cooker red pork curry.

Nutrition Information

Per Serve

Energy: 3009kJ/720 Cals (35%)

Protein: 33g (66%)

Fat: 38g (54%)

Sat fat: 11g (46%)

Carb: 30g (10%)

Sugar: 29g (32%)

Fibre: 9g (30%)

Sodium: 1072mg (54%)

FAQs

Slow-roasted pork belly with red wine poached pear salad

Slow-roasted pork belly with red wine poached pear salad
  • Serves4, with leftovers
  • Cook time3 hour
  • Prep time15 minutes, + overnight drying, cooling & 10 mins resting time\r\n
Ingredients
  • 1.3kg Coles Australian Pork Belly Roast Boneless
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 2 red onions, cut into thin wedges
  • 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken stock
  • 4 firm pears, peeled
  • 2 cups (500ml) dry red wine or cranberry juice
  • 1 cinnamon quill or stick
  • 2 whole star anise
  • 1 tbs caster sugar
  • 1 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 120g baby rocket leaves
  • 1 small fennel, finely shaved
    Description

    Served with a red wine poached pear salad, this slow-roasted pork belly recipe makes for a decadent and impressive meal.

    Method

    1. Step 1

      Place pork on a baking tray. Pat the rind dry with paper towel and use a small sharp knife to score the rind at 1cm intervals. Place pork in the fridge, uncovered, overnight to dry out the rind.

    2. Step 2

      Preheat oven to 140°C. Place pork on a clean work surface. Drizzle with 2 tsp oil and sprinkle with fennel seeds and salt. Place the onion in the base of a roasting pan. Arrange the pork over the onion. Pour the stock around the pork in the pan. Roast for 2 hours.

    3. Step 3

      Increase oven to 230°C. Roast the pork for a further 30 mins or until the rind crackles and the pork is cooked through. Loosely cover with foil and set aside for 10 mins to rest.

    4. Step 4

      Meanwhile, place pears in a small saucepan. Add the wine or cranberry juice, cinnamon, star anise and sugar and bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover the pears with a disc of baking paper to keep pears submerged in the poaching liquid. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 hour or until tender. Transfer pears to a heatproof bowl. Return the poaching liquid to the heat and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 mins or until the liquid reduces by half. Reserve 1 tbs of the poaching liquid in a small bowl. Drizzle the remaining poaching liquid over the pears. Set aside to cool.

    5. Step 5

      Place the vinegar, mustard, honey, remaining oil and reserved wine mixture in a screw-top jar. Shake until well combined.

    6. Step 6

      Cut the pears in half. Place the rocket, fennel and pear in a serving bowl and drizzle with dressing. Thickly slice the pork and serve with salad.