Slow-cooked honeyand-sage-rubbed pork belly with rhubarb, apple and Little Gem

Serves 4 This fantastic dish combines the lovely rich pork belly with slightly tart rhubarb and apples. The dressing, rather than a heavy sauce, gives a real lightness to a delicious cut.

For the rub

— 200g runny honey — 50g table salt — 2 garlic cloves — 100ml cider vinegar — 4g mustard seeds — 1 bunch sage — juice of 1 lemon

For the pork

— 1 pork belly, about 600g, trimmed, skin removed and reserved for the crackling — knob of butter — a little runny honey

For the crackling

— the skin reserved from

the pork belly — sherry vinegar, to sprinkle For the poached rhubarb — 200ml apple juice — 10ml grenadine — 30g caster sugar — 200g rhubarb, trimmed

and sliced into 3cm pieces — ½ tsp freshly grated ginger

For the rhubarb purée

— 40g unsalted butter — 40g caster sugar — 150g rhubarb, trimmed

and roughly chopped

For the lettuce

— 1 Little Gem — 20g runny honey — 100ml cider vinegar — 200ml cold-pressed

rapeseed oil — 5g mustard powder — 40g wholegrain mustard

To garnish

— 1 Granny Smith apple,

sliced into matchsticks — radishes, tops removed and reserved, the rest shaved thinly Preheat the oven to 100C/ lowest gas mark. Blend the rub ingredients together and rub the mixture all over the pork belly (if you have a barbecue going you can char it all over on the grill at this stage).

Set in a roasting tin and cook in the low oven for eight hours. Allow to cool. Place the pork between two baking sheets and wrap them tightly in cling film. Leave this in the fridge overnight.

To make the crackling, set the oven temperature to 120C/gas mark ½. Remove any fat from the pork-belly skin. Sprinkle it all over with a little sherry vinegar and salt. Roll the skin up tightly and tie it with string. Wrap in cling film and steam gently for three hours. It should be tender and the fat should have been rendered out of it. Remove from the heat to cool, then chill the roll in the fridge. Once cold, slice the roll thinly and lay the slices on a heavy baking sheet. Cover them with a piece of greaseproof paper, place another heavy sheet on top, and bake in the oven until golden and crisp.

For the poached rhubarb, bring the liquids and sugar to the boil then add the rhubarb and ginger. Bring to the boil again then take off the heat and leave to stand. When ready to serve, warm up the rhubarb in the remaining poaching liquor.

For the rhubarb purée, place the butter and sugar in a pan with the rhubarb. Put the lid on and cook until the rhubarb is soft, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and blend to a smooth purée.

When ready to serve, slice the chilled and pressed pork belly into portions. Sauté them in a hot pan with a good knob of butter, a squeeze of runny honey and a splash of water, colouring all the sides gently and basting regularly until the meat is warmed through and sticky.

Remove a couple of outer leaves from the Little Gem and cut it into quarters. Whisk together the rest of the ingredients to make a honey and mustard dressing, then coat the quarters in a little of it. Carefully use a blowtorch to colour the leaves, or grill or griddle to leave char marks.

Serve the pork with a little of the rhubarb purée, the poached rhubarb, a slice of crackling, charred lettuce, and the honey and mustard dressing. Garnish with apple and radish.