Rolled pork belly with herby apricot & honey stuffing

If you’re a crackling fan, you’ll love this recipe – there's loads of it! The secret is to dry out the skin for up to 24 hours for the best results.

Serves 6-8 Prep 35 mins plus resting and at least 3 hrs marinating

Cook 3 hrs 10 mins

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2.25kg piece pork belly, boned, skin on small bunch of parsley, chopped small handful of thyme, leaves picked 10 sage leaves, chopped

50g fresh breadcrumbs

140g dried apricots, chopped

2 tbsp honey

1 Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a small frying pan. Add the onion and cook for 10 mins until golden. Trim off about 100g of the pork, from the meaty side, and whizz in a food processor, then tip into a bowl with the herbs, bread, apricots, onion and 2 tbsp oil. Season. 2 Turn the pork belly skin-side up. Using a sharp knife, score the skin at 1cm intervals and rub 1 tbsp sea salt all over. Turn the pork belly over and season a little more, then brush the honey over the flesh.

Lay the stuffing down the centre, then bring the two ends together and roll tightly. Flip the pork over so the ends meet underneath. Tie the rolled pork with kitchen string to secure. Put the meat on a wire rack set over a roasting tin and transfer to the fridge, uncovered, for a few hrs or up to 24 hrs, so the skin has time to dry out and the meat takes on the flavour from the stuffing.

3 Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Rub the pork with the remaining oil and a little more sea salt. Roast for 30 mins. Turn the oven down to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and continue cooking for 2 hrs. Finally, turn the oven back up to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 to crisp up the skin for another 30 mins. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and leave to rest for 45 mins before carving.

Serve with mustard sauce (below) if you like. PER SERVING (8) 715 kcals, fat 49g, saturates 16g, carbs 17g, sugars 12g, fibre 2g, protein 52g, salt 2.5g