Maple glazed pork belly with cockles

Method

1. For the pork belly: trim the pork belly of any excess fat and remove any bones. Roll the belly and tie with the string, season well and brown on all sided in a large frying pan with a little olive oil.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a large casserole and add the carrot, onion leek and garlic (known as a mirepoix). Cook until softened and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and cider and bring to the boil.

4. Add the rolled pork belly to the casserole and pour the maple syrup over the top. Cover with the stock and bring to back up to a simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, basting occasionally.

5. For the cockles: gently fry the onion, thyme and celery in butter until softened. Add the cider and cook until reduced by half.

6. Add the cockles and cook for about 3 minutes, until all the shells have opened. Drain, reserving the cooking liquor. Remove most of the cockles from their shells, keeping some for presentation.

7. Reduce 300ml of the strained cooking liquor by half, add a drizzle of lemon oil and the chives. Spoon onto the plates and sit a portion of the pork belly on top. Add the cockles and pea shoots and finish with another drizzle of lemon oil.