Whether there’s rain or shine we’ll be getting our summer BBQ spirit on this weekend with this pork belly and mustard slaw recipe! If you’re looking for something a bit more special than your normal burger and hot-dogs, it’s a perfect recipe to make in advance if you have lots of guests. The smoky sauce it is cooked in works well smothered on roast root veg or chicken, and any leftovers taste amazing in a wrap.
4 pork belly cuts (on the bone)
Mustard Slaw (see below), to serve
smoky sauce
1 red onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 heaped tablespoons tomato purée/paste
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon black strap molasses or treacle
2 tablespoons olive oil
a few dashes of liquid coconut aminos, to taste
freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
chilli powder and smoked paprika, to taste
salt and black pepper, to season
SERVES 4
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
To prepare the pork belly, score the skin and rub sea salt all over. Lay in a roasting pan with the skin facing up, making sure the edges don’t touch the sides or you won’t get proper crackling. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
While the pork is in the oven prepare the smoky sauce. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and set over low–medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until the onions and garlic are cooked. Then use a handheld electric blender to blend all the ingredients with enough water to bind them together.
Remove the pork from the oven and baste with the oil that has been released from it. Pour any excess oil out of the pan and reserve for use in another recipe.
Turn the heat down to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3 and return the pork to cook for a further 20 minutes. Brush the pork with a generous amount of sauce so every ‘rib belly’ is covered but you still have about half of the mixture.
Cook for 25 minutes more, brushing over with more sauce towards the end. Remove the pork from the oven and brush over a little extra sauce if needed. Keep any remaining sauce in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge. Enjoy the ribs with the mustard slaw on the side or shred the meat off the bone and layer up in a wrap with a mound of slaw on top.
Mustard slaw
1 kohlrabi (or turnip), grated or very thinly sliced
1 head of broccoli, grated or very thinly sliced
1 carrot, grated or very thinly sliced
1 celery stalk/rib, thinly sliced
¼ red or white cabbage, grated or very thinly sliced freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil, to drizzle
1–2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard, to taste
SERVES 2–4
Put all of the grated or sliced vegetables in a large mixing bowl and squeeze over the lemon juice. Mix well then drizzle with olive oil and stir in a little mustard. Taste, adding more mustard if you like, season with salt and pepper and set aside. For a creamier slaw use mayonnaise instead of oil.
For more paleo recipes, check out Perfectly Paleo by Rosa Rigby.