…in carob and fennel, wilted local rocket and naspli and thyme jam
A Maltese savoury recipe suitable for many occasions.
Serves 8-10
Prep time 30 mins plus approx. 2 hrs proving and 8 hours roasting
Ingredients
For the pork belly
1 kg pork belly, skin removed but reserved
Half jar carob syrup
Vanilla pod
2 tbsp. fennel seeds, toasted and smashed in a pestle and mortar
1 ½ tbsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
For the naspli and thyme jam
20 small naspli or 10 larger ones peeled and stones removed
100g sugar
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
100ml water
For the wilted rocket and garlic
2 large bunches rocket trimmed of hard stems
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
Good glug of olive oil
Salt to taste
For the savoury Qaghaq tal- Gunglien
500g plain flour
30g caster sugar
100g butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
11g dried yeast
½ tsp. aniseed
½ tsp. ground cloves
Grated zest of 1 lemon
180ml luke-warm water
2 tsp. salt
100g sesame seeds
1 egg
Method
For the pork belly
Set the oven to 100 C. Mix all of the ingredients together and rub all over the pork. Place in a glass dish that is the same size as the belly and cover with the skin. Pour water into the dish until it is one third of the way up the belly. Cover tightly in foil and place in the oven. Leave to cook overnight or during the day for 8 hours. Once cooked if you want to make crackling, remove the pork from the oven and crank the oven up to 200C. Remove the skin and place on a baking tray covered in parchment paper. Rub the skin in oil and some salt and once the oven is hot put it in and wait for it to puff up. Rotate and shake from time to time to ensure even cooking.
Let the pork cool and put in the fridge to firm up making it easier to cut evenly.
For the naspli and thyme jam
Place all the ingredients into a pan and set on a moderate heat. Make sure to keep an eye on it and mash up the Naspli once they start softening so that you obtain a coarse jam. Stir every so often to make sure that nothing sticks. When it has thickened, after about half an hour, remove from the heat.
For the wilted rocket and garlic
In a frying pan heat up the oil and add in the garlic. Once it has flavoured the oil throw in the rocket. Allow to wilt and season to taste. Finish with another drizzle of good olive oil.
For the savoury Qaghaq tal- Gunglien
Mix all the ingredients together except for the egg and half of the sesame seeds. Use a dough hook to knead unless you want a bit of a work out and choose to do it by hand. It should be a firm dough but still silky to the touch. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and allow to prove until doubles in size.
Heat the oven to 190 C. Divide the dough into fist sized balls and leave to rise again for about 20 minutes. Roll each one into a rope and form into a ring leaving a decent hole in the middle. Brush with the egg beaten with a little olive oil and sprinkle the remaining sesame seed over. Bake in the oven until golden and crispy. Allow to cool almost completely. If you want to be really naughty blitz up some of the crackling into a crumb and mix with the sesame seeds topping!
Whilst the qaghaq are cooking remove the pork from the fridge and slice it into thick slices. Heat a non-stick frying pan and sear the slices giving them good colour on both sides.
To put together your sandwich, slice the qaghaq through the middle and drizzle with olive oil. Spread with some of the Naspli jam, top with a generous helping of pork followed by the wilted rocket. Enjoy.
