New Year's Day

Ingredients (4 portions)

• 1 kg boneless pork belly joint, skin on and scored (ask the butcher to score it)
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes, for the skin
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 onions, thickly sliced
• 3 eating apples, each cut into 6 wedges
• 250 g dried Puy or green lentils
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 stick of celery, finely diced (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cube chicken or vegetable stock cube
• 750 ml hot water for the lentils
• 1 kg floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper), peeled and cut into chunks
• 50 g butter
• 100 ml milk
• 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Plan of attack

Pork in at 12:00 for a 3:30 pm lunch. Crumble (dessert) is assembled while the pork rests, then bakes while you eat. Times below are counted from when the pork goes in (0:00).

Method

1. Before you start: heat the oven to 230°C (210°C fan). Take the pork out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Pat the skin dry again and rub in the oil, the thyme and the salt, pushing it into the cuts.
2. 0:00 Put the sliced onions in the middle of a roasting tin and sit the pork on top, skin side up. Roast for 30 minutes, until the skin starts to blister and crackle.
3. 0:30 Turn the oven down to 150°C (130°C fan). Roast for another 2 hours, without opening the door too often. The meat will turn very tender.
4. 2:00 Put the lentils in a saucepan with the carrot, celery, garlic, stock cube and 750 ml of hot water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape. Drain any extra liquid if needed. Keep warm.
5. 2:15 Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until soft. While they cook, toss the apple wedges in the roasting tin around the pork (this goes back in the oven).
6. 2:30 Turn the oven up to 200°C (180°C fan). Return the tin to the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, so the apples soften and the skin turns golden and crisp. If the skin is not crisp by then, give it 5 to 10 minutes under a hot grill.
7. 3:00 Drain the potatoes, return them to the warm pan and mash with the butter, milk and mustard until smooth. Season with pepper. Take the pork out of the oven and rest it on a board, loosely covered with foil, for 20 minutes.
8. Carve the pork into thick slices (the crackling can be snapped off in pieces). Serve each person some lentils, a few slices of pork, a piece of crackling, the roast apple and onion from the tin and a big spoonful of mash.

Swaps

Pork shoulder, boneless, in place of the belly (cook for the same time, but without the crackling steps). Green cabbage or savoy cabbage as a side. Beans in place of lentils.

Ingredients (4 portions)

• 3 large cooking apples (such as Bramley), about 700 g
• 150 g frozen blackberries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar, for the fruit
• 150 g plain flour
• 75 g cold butter, cubed
• 75 g light brown soft sugar
• 50 g porridge oats
• 500 ml whole milk, for the custard
• 4 egg yolks (keep the whites for another day)
• 50 g caster sugar, for the custard
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. The crumble: peel, core and cut the apples into 2 cm chunks. Put them in a saucepan with the blackberries, the 2 tbsp of sugar and 3 tbsp of water. Cover and cook gently for 8 minutes, until the apple starts to soften, but still has some bite. Tip into a baking dish (about 1.5 litres).
2. Rub the cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the brown sugar and oats. Scatter this over the fruit in an even layer, without pressing it down.
3. Bake in an oven at 190°C (170°C fan) for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbling up at the edges. (This goes in the oven when the pork comes out, while you eat the main course.)
4. The custard: heat the milk in a saucepan until just steaming (do not boil). In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla until pale and smooth.
5. Pour the hot milk slowly onto the yolks, whisking all the time. Pour it all back into the clean pan and cook over a low heat for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil, or it will scramble.
6. If you see any lumps, pour the custard through a sieve. Serve it hot, poured over the crumble. Keep it warm, covered with a lid, until you are ready.

Swaps

Rhubarb or plums in place of the blackberries. A handful of chopped hazelnuts in the crumble topping. Vanilla ice cream or cream in place of the custard.