Pork belly with a red currant sauce

We flavor a rolled pork belly with a quince apple compote, pink peppercorns and aromatic summer herbs and enjoy it cold with a Montecucco Sangiovese Cartacanta 2018 Basile.

A dish with an intense and tasty flavor, very economic and to be served cold thanks to the red currant sauce that makes it an excellent summer dish to serve often.

Ingredients for 4/6 people:

1.2kg fresh pork belly, finely chopped aromatic herbs (sage, rosemary and thyme), pink peppercorns as needed, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 200g quince apple compote, salt, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and a glass of Calvados.

For the red currant sauce with acacia honey: 200g red currants, 2 tablespoons acacia honey, 2 knobs of fresh butter, ½ glass water and 2 tablespoons Calvados.

Directions:

Spread the pork belly out on a flat surface and with a knife make incisions on the soft side without cutting into the rind side.

Salt the meat and rub in the chopped aromatic herbs.

Stick a pink peppercorn into some of the cuts.

Spread over the quince apple compote that has been mixed with the Dijon mustard.

Roll up the pork belly and tie it well with kitchen twine.

Sear every side of the pork roll in a hot pan with a tablespoon of EVOO and then douse it with half a glass of Calvados.

Transfer the meat into a baking pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for around two hours in an oven pre-heated to 180°C.

In the meantime, prepare the red currant sauce.

Melt the butter in a small pan with the honey. Add the red currants and half a glass of water and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add two tablespoons of Calvados and then remove from the heat.

Blend and filter the sauce before putting into a small bowl.

Remove the pork belly roll from the oven and place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Trickle over the juice that has remained in the pan and add a handful of pink peppercorns. Roll up and seal the parchment paper well with another sheet of aluminum foil.

Let the meat cool completely and then cut it into thick slices (about an inch thick)

Serve the meat with some of the red currant sauce and a trickle of EVOO and accompany with a salad of mesclun and some cherry tomatoes.