Oven-Baked Spanish-Style Pork Belly & Chickpea Stew

Before you begin...

This recipe takes around 5 min [10 min] to prep, so get your casserole dish and all your ingredients ready, then wash your fruit and veg

Note: Make sure your dish is oven-proof and safe to use on the hob. Don't have one? Start cooking in a large, wide-based pan then transfer to an oven-proof dish and cover tightly with foil

Now, let's get started!

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6

Heat a large, wide-based oven-proof casserole dish with a matching lid, with a drizzle of vegetable oil over medium-high heat

Pat the pork belly dry with kitchen paper and use a sharp knife score the fatty side in a criss-cross pattern, then cut into 8 [16] pieces

Once the oil is hot, add the pork belly pieces, fatty-side down, to the dish

Cook, without turning, for 2 min or until golden

Boil half a kettle

Chop the potatoes (skins on) into bite-sized pieces

Peel and cut the shallot[s] into wedges

Drain and rinse the chickpeas

Add the drained chickpeas to the dish with 400ml [750L] boiled water, shallot wedges, chopped potato, vegetable stock mix and a generous pinch of salt and pepper

Give everything a good mix up and add the tomato paste to the dish with the red wine vinegar, smoked paprika, dried basil and dried oregano

Bring to the boil over a high heat, then cover with a lid and put the dish in the oven for 1 hr or until the pork is cooked through (no pink meat!) and the potato is tender – this is your Spanish-style pork belly & chickpea stew

Once the stew has had 30 min, boil a kettle

Add the white long grain rice to an oven-proof dish with a generous pinch of salt and 300ml [600ml] boiled water

Cover tightly with tin foil and put the dish in the oven for 30 min or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked – this is your baked rice

Use this time to clear up, set the table, have a cup of tea or simply chill!