Slow-roasted Lamb Belly With Cider And Apple Sauce

Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 7/8 kg lamb belly, skin scored with a sharp knife
• handful table salt
• 12 sage leaves
• 1 lemon
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 500 g bramley apples, peeled, cored, chopped
• 30 g butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons cider
• 30 g soft dark brown sugar (to taste)
• 20 g butter (for the pan juices)
• 2 tablespoons cider (for the pan juices) (optional)

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 250c, or as hot as you can get the oven.
• 2 score the skin diagonally both ways to create diamond shape grooves with a stanley knife, be careful!
• 3 rub the table salt into the grooves that you have cut into the lamb skin.
• 4 turn the meat over and place fresh sage leaves and three slices of lemon onto the meat, season with the pepper and roll up, tie the lamb at intervals with string to ensure it doesn't unroll during cooking.
• 5 place the lamb on a wire rack that fits over an empty roasting tin, and roast for half an hour.
• 6 reduce the oven temperature to 150c and roast for a further three hours.
• 7 for the cider and apple sauce; put them into a pan with the butter, sugar, water and cider; cover and heat for 4-5 minutes, or until the apples are soft enough to beat to a purée. keep warm.
• 8 remove the crackling (skin) and then cover the meat with foil and rest for about 15 minutes.
• 9 drain the fat from the roasting tin keeping the meat juices in the tin.
• 10 put the roasting tin with the meat juices in onto the hob and add a small cube of butter (20g) and a splash of cider (optional).
• 11 slice the lamb, remember to remove the string, and serve with the apple sauce and a small drizzle of pan juices.