Pork belly (ribbe) is a popular Christmas dish in Norway, traditionally served with boiled potatoes, sauerkraut, kjøttkaker (literally ‘meat cakes’) and Christmas sausages. Feel free to eat it that way, or try this alternative with green lentils and roasted fennel, two vegetables that go incredibly well with this particular cut of meat. What matters is to get the meat right. We’re great fans of the dish in our household, and had pork belly no fewer than four times last December, which admittedly might be overdoing it a bit (I mean, it’s hardly healthy stuff!), but so be it – I just like it too much. We’ve experimented with several recipes but this is the best we’ve come across so far, somehow the crackling comes out just perfect.

Serves 4

You will need:

Pork belly (allow about 250-300g per person)

800g green lentils

2 fennel bulbs

4 garlic cloves

A few laurel leaves

Salt

A couple of days beforehand:

Take your pork belly out of the fridge. Rinse it under cold water, then pat it dry. With a good knife, cut a criss-crossing pattern on the skin side, quite deep in (you should cut a bit of the meat under the outer skin too). Add quite a lot of salt and rub it into the cuts, using your fingers to do so. Cover with cling film and put back in the fridge.

On the day you cook the pork belly (allow 3 hours)

Pre-heat the oven to the max temperature (250°C). Put a bit of oil on the baking tray, then lay your pork belly upside down (i.e. thick skin side down) on the tray. Pour water into the tray so that the thick skin (the crackling to be) is covered, but not the rest of the meat. (This is the secret to the best pork belly ever, so make sure you don’t skip that step!). Reduce the temperature down to 200°C. Cook for about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Take your pork belly out of the oven, turn it round (so that the crackling side is now on the top) and put back in the oven for another 1 hour 40 minutes with what remains of the water. Occasionally take a spoon and pour some of the water over the meat. You should do this about 4 or 5 times. This is because the crackling expands with water, and the more air in it, the crispier it will be.

About 30 minutes before the pork belly is ready:

Remove the water from the tray and use it to make a gravy, mixing it with some of the fat from the pork belly and some flour. Cook your lentils (plus garlic cloves and laurel leaves) by covering them in water and cooking for about 25 minutes (or until soft). Slice the fennel and roast in the oven with the pork belly (about 25 minutes too).