Roast Pork Belly with Orange
A large piece of pork belly with the rind on that cooks in a little over an hour and a half in the oven, and needs only two things: orange and time.
The orange comes in twice. First the raw meat is rubbed with the orange halves — not drizzled: the acid spread over the whole surface opens the fibres and seasons deeper, and that is the tenderising. And at the end fresh juice goes over again, reducing with the roasting fat into something concentrated.
The tomato slices go on only in the last few minutes. Put on from the start they collapse and make the tray watery.
From the grill, there is the grilled pork belly, Argentine style.
Ingredients
- 4 kg pork belly with the rind on
- 3 oranges, cut in half
- 4 plum tomatoes, sliced
- Olive oil, as needed
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper and chilli flakes, to taste
Method
- 1
Trimming and the citrus marinade: remove the visible excess fat from the outside of the pork belly. Take the orange halves and rub the entire surface of the meat energetically to work the juice in. Then rub the piece with a thread of olive oil and season to taste with salt, black pepper and chilli flakes.
- 2
First stage in the oven: lay the meat neatly on a lightly oiled roasting tray. Put it into an oven preheated to a moderate 170-180 °C and cook for about 30 minutes.
- 3
Turning: after the first half hour, turn the piece carefully so both sides cook evenly. Let it cook for another 30 minutes.
- 4
Topping and final basting: take the tray briefly out of the oven and cover the top of the meat with the slices of plum tomato. Drizzle evenly with a little more fresh orange juice and add an extra pinch of salt, pepper and chilli flakes over the tomatoes.
- 5
Final cooking: return the tray to the oven and cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the tomatoes are tender and the orange juices have concentrated. Take it out of the oven, rest the meat for 5 minutes so the juices redistribute, and serve hot, cut into portions.