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Cooking
Crispy Roast Pork Belly with Homemade Potato Gnocchi and Spinach
· 4 servings
Prepare the pork belly
Start by getting the pork belly ready for roasting. Using a very sharp knife, score the skin with straight cuts about half a centimetre apart. Rub the pork belly all over with salt, ground cumin and pepper.
Slice the garlic
Tuck slices of garlic into the scored cuts. About three cloves should be enough.
Roast
Place the meat in a roasting tin, skin side up. Don't add any liquid and don't cover it. Put it into an oven preheated to 220°C and roast at this higher temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 130°C and continue roasting for at least two hours.
Add the onion
After an hour of roasting, add onion cut into wedges to the tin. Open the oven every so often and baste the pork belly with the rendered fat. The total roasting time depends on how thick your piece of pork belly is.
The meat falls apart
You'll know it's done when the meat is practically falling apart. At the lower temperature it will need at least two to three hours in the oven. Once roasted, take the pork belly out and let it rest for ten minutes before slicing.
Boil the potatoes
Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water. While still hot, peel them and either grate them finely or pass them through a potato press. Put the potatoes in a bowl and add the egg and half of the flour. Mix together, adding more flour as needed.
A sticky dough
Don't overwork the dough — don't worry if it stays a little sticky. If it were dense and no longer sticky, the finished gnocchi would turn out too firm rather than light and fluffy, which is what we're after.
Cut the dough into pieces
Shape the gnocchi from the dough right away, as the potato dough starts to turn watery over time. On a floured surface, roll it into a rope about 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter. Using a knife, cut off pieces about 2.5 to 3 cm long.
Cook the gnocchi and prepare the spinach
Drop the gnocchi into boiling salted water. They're ready as soon as they float to the surface. Scoop them out and serve with the meat and spinach. Once the pork belly is nearly done, start on the spinach.
Fry the onion and spinach
Melt a knob of lard in a pot and fry the onion in it until translucent. Add chopped garlic, to taste — around 2 to 3 cloves works well. Stir and cook together for a moment, then add the spinach.
Reduce off any excess liquid
Season with salt and pepper. The spinach only needs a few minutes to wilt. Pour in the cream and let it simmer a little longer. The spinach shouldn't be too runny, so if needed, turn up the heat briefly to boil off any excess liquid — this will thicken it nicely.