Last night I made an entree for dinner which was just perfect to start off the evening. It’s almost effortless, and takes a short amount of preparation.

The entree was Pork Belly served with Spinach & Pear puree and beetroot jelly. Here is what you’ll need:

Pork Belly
- 2 Strips Pork Belly
- 0.5 tbsp of good quality sea salt

Spinach & Pear Pure
- 1 bunch spinach
- 1 pear (peeled, cored and quartered)
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt & Pepper

Beetroot Jelly
- 1 pack of Raspberry jelly (I used an Aeroplane branded one)
- 1 tin of sliced beetroot

First up the Beetroot Jelly (note – this will need at least 4 hours in the fridge to set)

- Unpack half satchel of the raspberry jelly into 0.5 cup of boiling water and mix to dissolve. Add another 0.5 cup of cold water.
- In a flat and shallow pan – place the sliced beetroots tightly next to each other side by side and pour over a tablespoon of the beetroot water from the tin on top of the beetroots.
- Finally pour over the raspberry jelly mixture till it covers the beetroot by 0.5 cm
- Set in the fridge for 4 hours

Next, let’s get on with the Pork Belly. Preheat your oven to 220* C.

I bought 2 strips from David Jones (cost me about $5.50 for the two). There were some bone parts at the bottom section of the belly strips which I cut off. I prefer to sever this boneless.

I made diagonal cuts through the skin (don’t cut into the meat) and then sprinkled sea salt on the top of the strips and massage the skins for a about 20 to 30 seconds. Check that your jelly is getting ready before sticking the pork in the over. You can drizzle the strips with a bit of olive oil – but I put them straight in the oven on the top shelf. After about 15 mins, bring the heat down to 200 and bring the meat down to the middle shelf and then 15 mins later, down to 180. If your skin hasn’t crisped, put it back on the top shelf for another 10 – 15 mins until it’s crisp to your liking. All in all, it should take about 45 – 55 mins to cook.

While the pork is cooking, let’s move on to the puree. In a small saucepan, boil enough water to cover your quartered bits of pear. Let your pear boil for about 15 to 20 mins depending on it’s ripeness. Take it out of the water and let it cool. Meanwhile, wash the spinach and cook that in boiling water (I used the same water as the pear) for 5 mins until it’s soft. Drain the spinach and squeeze out any excess water with some paper towels.

Finally, add the spinach, pear, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a blender and blend it until the mixture forms a creamy and foamy mixture. Taste and season to suit your taste buds.

Check that your pork belly is crisp and that there is no pinkness in the meat. Cut a square or rectangle strip of the jelly and place it on the corner of your serving plate. Dollop a teaspoonful of the puree and spread it in a straight line with the back of your spoon. Cut the pork strips into half and serve them with one half leaning over the other. Sprinkle a little sea salt over if necessary.

Voila, there you have it – Pork Belly served with Spinach and Pear puree and beetroot jelly.

I made this on the weekend, and had leftovers to take to work. After re-heating my lunch box in the office kitchen, it caught a few noses at work.

It’s simple, needs a little prep time, but most of the cooking time is where you leave it alone and spend time outside the kitchen. So, here’s the recipe:

To make the marinade
* 300g of lamb trimmed and cut in cubes. (Cuts from a leg of lamb is perfect, but even a shoulder cut will do).
* 1 clove of garlic – crushed
* 1 small ginger cut into very small bits
* 1.5 – 2 teaspoons of salt
* About 1 teaspoon of turmeric
* 2.5 – 3 teaspoons of garam masala
* 2 teaspoons of ground coriander
* 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
* 3 tablespoons of natural yoghurt (don’t go for the 98% fat free rubbish, get the good stuff)
* 1 teaspoon of vinegar
* Small red chilli – cut finely (optional)

For the cooking part
* 2 onions julienned (sliced into long thin strips)
* 4 small tomatoes de-seeded and diced
* Cumin seeds (I didn’t have this, so I used half a teaspoon of ground cumin powder)
* 2 – 3 bay leaves (optional, but adds to the flavour)
* 1 mug of good quality basmati rice

Let’s start the marinade. Put the lamb and all the marinade ingredients together. Mix the yoghurt well and coat the lamb cubes with the marinade very well. If you need more yoghurt, feel free. But the more yoghurt you add, the less you can taste the spices – so don’t go overboard.

Cover the marinade and put in the fridge. You can do this before hand and let it marinade for a couple of hours – but I didn’t have much time. So I left it in the fridge for about 15 mins while I prepared the rest.

Once you have veg chopped up – bring a non-stick saucepan on high heat (I repeat – non-stick – otherwise be prepared for the washing). Add some oil (vegetable or olive will do). When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds (or cumin powder) and once you can smell the cumin, add the onions and lower the heat to medium. Stir the onions around for 7 – 10 mins until browned. Then add the chopped tomatoes immediately followed by the lamb and bay leaves. Turn up the heat to high and leave on this high heat for 5 mins while stirring frequently.

After 5 minutes, lower the flame to low and let it simmer. Put a lid on it and let it cook for 20 – 30 mins. Go watch TV.

After 20 mins, check if the lamb is tender and taste to see if you need more seasoning. Don’t be afraid to add more salt as the rice will absorb some of it. Once you’ve found your balance of the seasoning, add in the mug of rice and give it a gentle stir. Add some water to fill just 0.5cm above the entire mixture. Put the heat up to the highest and let the water come to boil. Once you see the water boiling, cover the lid and put the heat down to your low setting. DO NOT TAKE IT OFF the lidfor about 20 mins.

The idea is to leave the steam and flavours covered to cook the rice instead of evaporating the magic of the spices. Go watch TV again or give some attention to your guests.

After 20 mins, take off the lid and there you have it. Give it a few stirs and let it rest for 5 mins so that the rice fluffs up.

While it rests you can make some raita (I make mine with 4 table spoons of yoghurt, quarter finely diced cucumber, 1 tea spoon coriander powder, 1 tea spoon cumin powder, some chopped mint leaves). You can also serve it with plain yoghurt.

This recipe can also be used by replacing the lamb with chicken. Enjoy!