Slow-roasted pork belly with puréed garlic

Garlic purée goes wonderfully with the sweet, succulent flesh of pork belly.

2kg pork belly, with skin on and ribs intact
50ml olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp fennel seeds
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
4 celery sticks, cut into chunks
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
Few rosemary sprigs
2 dried red chillies
500ml white wine

For the garlic purée

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20 very fresh whole, peeled garlic cloves
200ml whole milk
3 lemon thyme (or ordinary thyme) sprigs
50ml mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil
Few drops of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Using a very sharp knife, score the skin of the pork at regular intervals with 5mm-deep cuts. Rub the olive oil into the flesh and season with 1 tbsp sea salt and the fennel seeds. Place the pork, skin side up, in a roasting tray and roast in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes until crackling begins to form.

Carefully lift out the pork on to a platter and scatter the vegetables, herbs and dried chillies in the roasting tray. Pour over the wine, season lightly and stir to combine. Rest the pork on top of the vegetables and cover with foil. Lower the oven setting to 160°C/Gas 3. Return the pork to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Remove the foil and cook, uncovered, for a further 20 minutes.

While the pork is roasting, make the garlic purée. Put the garlic, milk and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Add a pinch of salt and bring to just under a simmer, then turn down the heat to very low and poach the garlic very gently until soft, about 35 minutes. The garlic should be very soft and almost falling apart. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic cloves to a bowl and add a tablespoonful or so of the milk. Using a fork mash to a purée, then stir in the olive oil. Add a few drops of lemon juice and season with a little more salt and pepper to taste; keep warm.

Cut the pork into 2-3cm thick slices, sliding out the bones as you do so and discarding the vegetables. Arrange on warm plates with the broccoli. Spoon over the garlic purée and serve.