Celebrate spring with a warm pork belly salad

Spring is in the air and it’s the perfect time to experiment with edible flowers and herbs in your cooking

Serves: 4

Cooks in: 2.5 hours

Difficulty: easy

pot of crispy pork belly in a bowl
sprig of different herbs

Ingredients

Main

  • 500-600g piece of pork belly
  • 1 purple heirloom cauliflower
  • 2 cups warrigal greens leaves
  • 1 bunch flowering thyme, rosemary, chives and/or sage
  • Salt

Pickle 

  • 1L hot water
  • 100ml apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp castor sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Fresh thyme or rosemary

Dressing 

  • 1 large tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp white mustard seeds 
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 200ml verjuice

Method

 
  1. Salt and slow roast the pork belly at 150 degrees for two hours. Rest for 10 minutes and tear apart roughly with a sharp knife and a pair of tongs.
  2. While the meat is cooking, break the cauliflower into bite-sized florets and prepare the pickle. 
  3. Place the hot water, apple cider vinegar, castor sugar, salt and some fresh-picked herbs. (e.g. thyme or rosemary) in a small to medium pot.
  4. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and immerse the cauliflower, allowing it to cool in the liquid for 10 minutes, then drain.
  5. Wash and dry the warrigal leaves.
  6. Carefully strip the delicate flowers off the tips of the herbs and set aside.
  7. For the dressing, in a jar mix the honey, mustard seeds, extra-virgin olive oil and verjuice. Put the lid on and shake just prior to serving. 
  8. Toss all items together in a bowl to coat, then sprinkle the herb flowers over the finished salad.

Tips

  • Adding other items such as thin-sliced apple, toasted walnuts or chia seeds to the salad can make the dish stand out a little.
  • To take the dish to the next level, add a sprinkle of truffle salt to finish.
  • The dressing will separate if left standing so just shake it again before use. 

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