How to Serve –
Take the whole tray to the table and place the huge piece of crackling to the side, cut between the bones, serving a rib each with a large chopped piece of crackling – serve the belly pork ribs with a portion of the casseroled vegetables and the natural jus /gravy from the dish.
This is one pot cooking at it’s best but for extra bliss serve with mustard mash and maybe some apple chutney.
Variations –
Why not add large diced potatoes to the pot or alternate the vegetables – try Seasonal celeriac or turnip. Whole baby beetroots would also work well. My mum used to use broccoli which cooked very soft but was still very nice – use the stalk as well as the florets, that’s where all the flavour and nutrition is.
Belly of pork is a fatty piece of meat but because it’s slow cooked all the fat renders down in to the sauce – which could be skimmed off.
A whole belly of pork is approx. 3 foot long and you only need half of it for this four-portioned dish. BUT what end – well the big end has bigger ribs, a thicker layer of fat but a chunkier piece of meat while the other is thinner, les fat, smaller ribs with no ribs on one end and an even piece of meat. BOTH cuts have their good points – it’s your choice or the butchers.
Do you know where your meat comes from? My pork was from a farm in Banham, Norfolk.