Stuffed pork belly Roast chicken with rice stuffing

Serves 6–8

Preparation time 25 minutes Cooking time about 3 hours

Pork belly is one of my favourite cuts of meat because the fatty layer ensures juiciness. Pick a pork belly that has a good balance between fat and meat.

You need

• 2 kg deboned pork belly, skin on

• 1 teaspoon each crushed fennel seeds, ground coriander and dried mixed herbs

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 200 g bacon strips

• ½ cup soft dried apricots, chopped

• ¼ cup fresh breadcrumbs

• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 2 teaspoons honey

• ½ cup pecan nuts, chopped

• 8 pickling onions or shallots, fried

• freshly ground black pepper

Here’s how

1 Light a fire and prepare medium coals. Use a sharp knife to score the pork belly (or ask your butcher to do it for you). Mix the spices and salt together and rub into the meat.

2 On a chopping board, line up 30 cm-long pieces of kitchen twine, 2 cm apart. Put the meat on top of the twine with the skin facing down. Arrange the strips of bacon on top of the pork belly. Mix the apricots, breadcrumbs, garlic, honey and pecan nuts together and spread this mixture on top of the bacon. Arrange the onions down the middle and season to taste with black pepper.

3 Fold the meat over the filling with the row of onions in the middle. The sides of the pork belly should meet but not overlap. Secure the middle with the twine (you may need an extra pair of hands here) and work your way towards the tips of the roll. Cut off any extra twine.

4 I used a rotisserie to cook the meat over the coals to ensure even heat distribution and slow cooking. Check the heat (it should be medium hot) and add more coals from time to time. If you don’t have a rotisserie, use a kettle braai: Scrape the coals to the side and put a drip tray under the meat. Turn the meat over each time you add more coals.

5 If the skin isn’t crisp enough after 3 hours, add more coals and braai the pork belly over a higher heat. Set aside to rest for a few minutes before you slice and serve.

Serves 6–8

Preparation time 20 minutes Cooking time 1 hour 15 minutes

You need

• 1 whole chicken, abdominal cavity deboned

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the stuffing

• 30ml butter

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 2 cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped • 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 tablespoon garam masala

• 250 ml long-grain rice

• 250 ml hot stock

• 125 ml cooked lentils

• ¼ cup sultanas

• ½ cup roasted cashew nuts, peri peri flavour

Here’s how

1 Prepare the filling: Melt the butter and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until translucent. Add the spices and rice and fry for a few minutes until the rice is lightly toasted. Add the stock, lentils and sultanas to the rice and steam with the lid on for about 7 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is half cooked. Spread the rice out in a flat dish so it can cool down quickly.

2 Preheat the oven to 180° C or prepare medium-hot coals in your kettle braai. Season the chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper inside and out. Add the cashew nuts to the rice stuffing and fill the abdominal cavity with it. Use kitchen twine or toothpicks to secure the chicken.

3 Put the chicken in an oven dish and cover it with foil. Roast for about 45 minutes in the oven or the kettle braai with the lid on. Remove the foil and roast the chicken for about 15 minutes or until browned and cooked through.