Description
Indulge in the rich, savory flavors of homemade pork rillettes, perfectly paired with cornichons and toasted sourdough for a comforting treat.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 lbs pork belly (the really fatty kind), skinned and boned
- 1 liter of water
- Bouquet garni (thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves)
- 6 peppercorns
- 4 cloves of garlic
- Rock salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cut the pork belly into squares, about 2 inches.
- Let them simmer with the water, bouquet garni, peppercorns, garlic and a sprinkling of salt in a large pan under a lid.
- Make sure the pan doesn’t dry out so the meat starts to caramellize. Add a bit more water if necessary.
- After about five hours the meat and fat should be tender enough for you to tear it into strips, without disintegrating into a mush.
- Let it cool down and season with salt and pepper.
- Place it in a bowl or on a large chopping board and use two forks to shred the meat and fat into strips. At this point it is unbearably tempting to transfer the pork into your mouth rather than a bowl. This is perfectly fine but try to keep most of it for the final product.
- You can now add the mixture of fat and meat to small ramekins or a pickle jar. Press it down as much as you can and seal the top with a couple of slices of pork fat. If you are using individual ramekins, try to place something heavy on top to tighten the mixture.
- Place in the refrigerator. It’s ready to eat after a couple of days and will keep for several weeks. However, I would be very surprised if anybody can let it sit for that long.
- Serve on sourdough toast with cornichons, rock salt and French mustard.
Notes
For best results, use a pork belly with a high fat content, ideally a 50/50 ratio of meat to fat. Rillettes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Pair with cornichons, mustard, and toasted sourdough for a classic presentation.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of recipe
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 0
- Sodium: 400
- Fat: 32
- Carbohydrates: 0
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 15
- Cholesterol: 80