BOOK NOW for the Good Food Show Summer 13 – 16 June 2024
Roast Pork Belly With Confit Parsnips
By: Glynn Purnell
Course: Main
Feast your eyes on this delicious recipe that Glynn demonstrated on the Big Kitchen stage at the BBC Good Food Show Winter 2022.
Serves: 4
Cooks in: Preparation Time: 45 mins, Cooking Time: 2 hrs, plus pork roasting time
Difficulty: Hard
Ingredients
For the pork belly
2kg piece of boneless pork belly
For the sweet and sour parsnips
1 medium parsnip
110ml distilled malt vinegar
110g caster sugar
10 juniper berries, freshly ground
For the parsnip and vanilla purée
2 large parsnips
250ml whole milk
250ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and scraped
40g unsalted butter, diced
For confit parsnips
2 parsnips
330ml sunflower oil
1 thyme sprig
1 tsp pink peppercorns
To serve
Pork gravy
Buttered sprout tops
Sage leaves
Parsley oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190C / 170C fan/ gas mark 5. Place the pork, skin-side up, on a roasting rack in a roasting tin, and stab all over with a roasting fork. Season all over with salt and black pepper.
- Roast for about 2 hrs or until very tender. Remove from the oven and leave to rest in a warm place.
- To make the sweet and sour parsnips. Peel, top and tail the parsnip. Using a mandolin, thinly slice the parsnip lengthways. Once you get to the root, flip the parsnip over and slice from the other side.
- Bring the sugar and vinegar to the boil in a saucepan, add the ground juniper berries and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Add the parsnip ribbons, in batches if necessary, and boil for 5-10 mins, or until tender. Remove from the poaching liquid, shake off any excess liquid and set aside. Keep warm.
- To make the parsnip and vanilla puree, peel, top and tail the parsnips. Roughly chop into 2cm cubes. Put the parsnips into a large saucepan with the cream, milk and vanilla pod and seeds. Place onto a medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the parsnip is soft and tender.
- Strain the cooked parsnips through a sieve, reserving the cooking liquor. Remove the vanilla pod and discard.
- Place the parsnips into the high-speed blender with 75ml of the cooking liquor. Blend until smooth, adding more liquor if necessary. Once smooth, gradually add the cold, diced butter while blending, until the purée is smooth and velvety.
- Pass the purée through a fine sieve or chinois. Cover with the cling film pressed to the surface to the surface of the purée and cool in the fridge.
- To make the confit parsnips, preheat the oven to 120C / 100C fan / ½ gas mark. Wash and clean the top of the parsnips using a paring knife. Place the parsnips into a Pyrex dish with the thyme and pink peppercorns. Cover with the sunflower oil.
- Confit in the oven for around 1 hr until soft and a knife can penetrate the skin. Remove from the oven and store in a warm area in the confit oil.
- When you’re ready to serve, heat 1 tbsp of the confit oil in a non-stick pan. Add a confit parsnip and evenly colour all around the parsnip. Once evenly coloured, add a knob of salted butter. When foaming, baste and caramelise the parsnip all over.
- To serve, halve a caramelised confit parsnip and place on the serving plate. Place three ribbons of sweet and sour parsnip on the plate.
- Spoon the warm parsnip and vanilla purée next to the confit parsnip. Carve the roast pork belly and add to the serving plate. Garnish with buttered sprout tops, sage, and drizzle a little parsley oil in and around the parsnip and the pork. Finish with delicious pork gravy.
