Pork Belly with Apples and Dill

Think of it as Norwegian-style porchetta. On our show from Brumunddal we visited a pig-farm, where the kind hostess, Ingerine Amundsen, cooked lovely Italian-inspired food with local ingredients. I wanted to show how the same ingredients - plus unripe apples from the garden - could be used to make a dish that was just as good, but with Norwegian flavors.

INGREDIENTS:

Number of servings

Servings: 6

List of ingredients

3 pounds/ 1,4 kg pork belly

Salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped dill

1 tablespoon fennel fronds

1 teaspoons fennel seeds

½ teaspoon caraway

⅔ pounds/ 300 gram minced pork

1 yellow apple

1 unripe green apple, or 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 pound/ 450 grams mixed root vegetables, chopped

1 pound/ 450 grams potatoes, in wedges

PREPARATION:

• Rub pork belly with 2-3 teaspoons salt. Place on a deep plate, wrap with plastic foil and refrigerate overnight.

• Preheat oven to 400 F/ 200 C.

• Combine dill, fennel, fennel seeds, caraway, minced meat and 1 teaspoon salt. Grate the yellow apple and mix with meat mixture.

• Take out the pork belly. Place the meat mixture in one cylinder the middle, wrap the pork belly around it, and tie it up with string. Place the meat in a large oven-proof dish. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 300 F/ 150 C. Bake for 1 1/2 hour.

• Juice the unripe apple.

• Add the root vegetables and potatoes, and half the juiced apple (or apple cider vinegar) to the oven-proof dish. Season with salt and pepper. Increase the temperature the 350 F/ 175 C. Bake for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through. Add more unripe apple juice or vinegar to taste.