Confit of Belly Pork with Puy Lentils
Ingredients
- 1 piece of belly pork weighing about 900g
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary and sage)
- 450g lard
- For the lentils: 250g Puy lentils
- 1 carrot, 1 medium onion and 1 stick of celery, all cut into chunks
- A small bunch of fresh thyme
- Salt
Method
Get the butcher to score the pork. Mix together the salt and herbs and work well into the skin. Place, skin side up, in a close-fitting roasting pan or ovenproof dish, cover, and refrigerate for two hours.
Heat the oven to 180°C / gas mark 4. Cut up the lard and place around the pork, cover the pan tightly with foil and cook for half an hour. Reduce the heat to 150°C / gas mark 2 and cook for a further four hours. Reserve the fat.
Remove the pork and press between two plates with a large weight on top until cool, preferably overnight.
To finish, melt enough of the fat in a small frying pan to give a half-inch depth. Cut the pork into two-inch squares and, when the fat starts to smoke, fry — skin side down at first — on all sides until nicely browned.
Place the lentils, vegetables and thyme in a deep pan with double their depth of water, bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 20–25 minutes until al dente. Add half a teaspoon of salt towards the end of the cooking time. Drain and serve.
From the October 2019 edition of the Churston Farm Shop recipe collection. View the original edition (PDF)