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Pork rillettes

Christmas pork rillettes

Pork rillettes

Name: Pork rillettes
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 bay leaves; 4 thyme sprigs; 1kg rindless, boneless pork belly (it pays to use the best-quality pork you can find for this dish), cut into roughly walnut-sized cubes; 5 garlic cloves roughly chopped; 10 juniper berries roughly crushed, plush extra to decorate (optional); ¼ tsp Chinese five-spice powder; large splash of brandy or Calvados; 4 tbsp duck or goose fat (optional); sourdough toast; cornichons or sliced gherkins; dressed bitter leaves

Barney Desmazery

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Serves 8

More effort

Prep: 1 hr

Cook: 3 hrs

plus 2 hrs chilling

A star rating of 3.4 out of 5.3 ratingsRate

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A French dish of potted meat with garlic, juniper and brandy. Slow-cook pork until tender then set into individual ramekins for a sensational starter

Gluten-free

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

4 bay leaves
4 thyme sprigs
1kg rindless, boneless pork belly

(it pays to use the best-quality pork you can find for this dish), cut into roughly walnut-sized cubes
5 garlic cloves

roughly chopped
10 juniper berries

roughly crushed, plush extra to decorate (optional)
¼ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
large splash of brandy or Calvados
4 tbsp duck or goose fat

(optional)

To serve

sourdough toast
cornichons

or sliced gherkins
dressed bitter leaves

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal387
fat32g
saturates11g
carbs1g
sugars0g
fibre0g
protein24g
salt0.5g

Method

step 1

Reserve 1 bay leaf, then tip everything except the duck fat and serving suggestions into a bowl and season generously. If you have time, cover and leave the meat to marinate overnight in the fridge – however, this isn’t essential.
step 2

Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Tip the meat and all the juices into a flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Pour over 250ml water, or enough to just cover the meat, and place the pan on a low heat. As soon as it starts to bubble, pop on the lid and put in the oven for 2½-3 hrs, removing it once to give it a good stir.
step 3

The meat should now be very tender. Leave it to cool slightly in the pan, then drain over a bowl to catch the fat and juices. Shred the pork by hand or put in a food processor and pulse a few times to shred, but don’t overwork it into a paste. Taste, add extra seasoning if needed, then press meat into 2 small or 1 large serving dish, or pack into individual ramekins. Pour the juices and fat back over the meat, and put in the fridge for at least 2 hrs for the fat to harden. (To keep the rillettes for a week or so, cover with a layer of duck fat, and lay a bay leaf and a couple of juniper berries on top for decoration.)
step 4

Serve with sourdough toast, cornichons and a few bitter leaves (such as curly endive, rocket and radicchio), in a sharp mustardy dressing.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2013

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A star rating of 3.4 out of 5.3 ratings

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