Mother's Day Pork Belly with Creamy Potato Bake

salt (enough to generously coat the rind)
olive oil
1 bunch baby carrots, skin scraped
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced ½ cm thick
1 cup fresh cream
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 handful fresh chives or parsley, finely chopped
pepper
½ cup tasty cheese, grated
vegetables of choice
apple sauce or similar

1. Cover rind generously all over with salt and leave on the bench to rest for 1 hour. This will draw out the excess moisture in the rind to make a crunchier crackle and bring pork to room temperature before cooking. Pre-heat oven to 240 degrees celsius.
2. Use paper towels to pat dry any moisture that has surfaced and remove excess salt.
3. Wrap folded foil around the meat to keep in the moisture but do not cover any of the rind.
4. Place pork in a baking tray and massage with olive oil then sprinkle a little salt evenly over the rind. Place in the oven on the middle shelf. Put carrots on a tray and massage with olive oil and salt. Put in the oven on the bottom shelf at the same time as the pork.
5. Cook for 30 min so the rind starts to bubble and harden.
6. Turn the oven down to 180 degrees celsius and continue to cook pork for another 30 min. Continue to cook the carrots until tender, turning occasionally. Remove and keep warm once cooked.
7. In the meantime, cook the sliced potatoes in a bowl in the microwave until they are just becoming tender but not soft (approximately 5 min on high). Mix cream, garlic, fresh herbs, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Layer a shallow oven proof dish with the cream mixture then the potatoes, keep layering until all the ingredients are used. Sprinkle with cheese and put on the top shelf of the oven 10 minutes before the pork needs to come out of the oven. If the crackle hasn’t hardened then push up the temperature to 240 degrees celsius for 5-10 minutes, checking regularly to prevent burning.
8. Take the pork out of oven and rest for 10 mins while the potato bake becomes golden and the green vegetables are steaming. Serve pork with potatoes, vegetables and condiment of choice.*In very hot climates it may be best to only leave meat out of the fridge for half that time so the meat doesn’t spoil.