Tuscan pork belly is a meal I often order when we eat at an Italian restaurant. I decided to create a recipe that I could cook at home as it's so delicious, and yet surprisingly easy to make. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water! I've also given it the My Allergy Kitchen treatment so this easy Tuscan inspired pork belly recipe is free from all common allergens and suitable for the low-FODMAP diet too.
Pork belly is a succulent and delicious cut of meat, but is relatively inexpensive. I use pork belly slices to speed up the cooking time, compared to using a whole pork belly joint. This makes it suitable for a quick weeknight meal. You can of course use the same marinade on a joint - just cook it for longer. I also use an Italian herb mix to make it easy, and to save buying several different jars of herbs. If you prefer, mix your own herbs. Ideally, allow the pork to marinade overnight for the best flavour - but it still tastes great if you need to cook it straight away.
This Low FODMAP Tuscan pork belly is an ideal recipe to share with friends and family as it takes such little time to prepare, but it tastes like you've spent hours slaving over it! Prepare the marinade in advance and leave it in the fridge. When it's time to cook, it will take care of itself, roasting in the oven, leaving you free to socialise.
Check out all my Low FODMAP recipes.
How to Serve Tuscan Inspired Pork Belly
For a simple dinner, serve with roasted new potatoes and green beans. Charlotte potatoes are my favourites. For a really yummy flavour you can cook the roast potatoes in with the meat. Cut the new potatoes in half and they will soak up all the delicious juices. 15 green beans (75g) is considered low-FODMAP so watch portion sizes. It would also go well with salad or any other green vegetables. We had ours with savoy cabbage cooked with bacon lardons and vegetable stock - which I'm sorry, is not low-FODMAP, but we had some leftover in the fridge that needed eating! (We've been through the exclusion phase of the low-FODMAP diet and cabbage is ok for us). Anyway, on to the recipe...
Easy Tuscan Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil
- 2 tablespoon tomato puree
- 2 teaspoon Italian herbs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 400 g pork belly slices
- lemon wedges, to serve
Instructions
- If cooking the pork immediately (without marinading in the fridge) preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
- In a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the pork belly and lemon wedges.
- Rub the marinade mixture all over the pork belly slices. If you have time, cover and leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or overnight. Otherwise, skip straight ahead to the next step.
- Place belly slices in a roasting tin. Roast the marinaded pork belly slices in the preheated oven for 35 minutes.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Christiane
Refrigerated it overnight, baked it today - very delicious, very easy to make and will definitely make it again. Next time I will even use less oil (used 3 tbsp this time).
Charlotte
How much pork do you require for this dish? Thankss
Zoe
You need 400g of pork belly slices.
Jon Parker
Awful I'm afraid. It needs sugar or honey to cut through the bitterness. I followed the recipe to the letter. All we could taste was lemon zest and garlic. Had to throw it away.
Zoe Williams
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the recipe. If you prefer a sweeter taste then of course add sugar or honey (although honey is not low FODMAP - maple syrup may be a better alternative). Personally I don't like to add sugar to savoury recipes, and I tend to leave it out when it's asked for in a recipe - I guess it's just personal preference.
Juliet
Easy and tasty, enjoyed the zing of the lemon zest which cuts through the richness of the pork. I didn't have garlic infused olive oil so used a small clove of garlic finely crushed to provide that hint of garlic.
Ilene
This was the first time I made pork belly and it was a hit. I used extra tomato paste instead of puree . I used fresh garlic cloves since I didn’t have garlic infused oil. I added extra seasonings. I cooked as directed, but had to put the oven on broil at the end and broil on both sides for crispness . It was delicious!
FYI I got a great price for the pork belly at Costco