Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Fennel & Rosemary

This Italian-style pork belly - pancettone - is scored, rubbed with herbs, and slow-roasted until the skin crackles and the meat falls apart. A mustard and pan-juice dressing ties it all together. Your pizza oven is brilliant for this: start with moderate heat to render the fat and crisp the skin, then let the retained heat finish the job gently. The fennel seeds are the secret - they cut through the richness of the pork beautifully.

Ingredients

• 1 pork belly joint (about 1.5kg), rind scored by your butcher
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 100ml white wine
• 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Let your pizza oven settle to around 180°C.
2. Score the pork rind deeply if your butcher hasn't already. Rub the coarse salt firmly into the scored skin - this is what gives you crackling.
3. Pour the olive oil into a roasting tin and add the garlic, rosemary, and fennel seeds. Slide the tin into the oven for 10 minutes to infuse the oil.
4. Place the pork belly skin-side up in the tin. Pour the white wine around the sides (not over the skin).
5. Roast for about 2 hours, checking occasionally. The skin should blister and crackle, and the internal temperature should reach at least 75°C, ideally 84°C for pull-apart tenderness.
6. Remove the pork and rest for 10 minutes on a board. Strain the pan juices into a small pan, whisk in the Dijon mustard, and warm through to make a quick sauce.
7. Slice the pork belly thickly and serve with the mustard jus.