Pork roast with dumplings and Stöcklkraut

Roast pork:

• 1.5 kg pork belly with rind
• salt
• black pepper
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• ½ tsp whole caraway seeds
• 2 tbsp lard
• 2 onions (approx. 180 g in total)
• 1 litre chicken soup or vegetable stock
• possibly 1 small potato for binding

Dumplings:

• 650 g floury potatoes
• salt
• white pepper
• nutmeg
• 280 g plain wheat flour (type 480)
• approx. 2 litres of smoked soup (alternatively water, but the dumplings won't taste as intense)

Stöcklkraut:

• ½ tsp whole caraway seeds
• salt
• 1 small white cabbage (approx. 1 kg)
• 2 tbsp lard
• black pepper
• 3 - 4 tbsp white wine vinegar

Chives

Procedure: Prepare the roast → Cook the potatoes → Prepare the cabbage → Prepare the dumpling dough and form the dumplings → Crisp the rind → Cook the dumplings

Roast pork:

• For the pork roast, preheat the oven to 140 °C top/bottom heat. Cut the pork belly in half lengthways. Season the meat side with salt and pepper and season with coriander, crushed garlic, marjoram rubbed between the palms of your hands and caraway seeds.
• Heat the lard in a roasting tin on the hob and fry the meat briefly on the meat side. Remove. Peel the onions, cut into 5 mm cubes and fry in the roasting tin for approx. 10 minutes until light brown. Pour in 500 ml soup
• Return the meat to the roasting tin with the rind facing downwards and cook in the oven on the middle shelf for 1 hour. Remove and score the rind with a sharp knife 2 mm deep at 5 mm intervals on the long side; repeat on the wide side to create a lattice pattern (cupping).
• Place the meat in the roasting tin with the rind facing upwards. Increase the oven temperature to 165 °C top/bottom heat and roast the meat for a further 1.5 hours, gradually pouring in the remaining soup until it has been used up.
• Remove the roast and increase the temperature to 220 °C top heat. Place the roast on a baking tray with the rind facing upwards and crisp the rind on the top shelf of the oven for 20 minutes with the oven door slightly open (bake until golden brown). Switch off the oven and keep the roast warm.
• Meanwhile, skim off some of the fat from the gravy if necessary. If necessary (depending on the desired thickening), peel the raw potato, grate finely, add to the sauce and reduce a little on the hob. Flavour with salt and pepper. Then pass through a fine sieve, it should not be thick, the roast pork needs natural juices.

Dumplings:

• Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water until soft. Strain and peel while still hot.
• Press the potatoes through a potato ricer into a bowl and season with ½ tsp salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the flour on top.
• Bring the smoked soup to the boil in a wide pan.
• Briefly mix the hot potato and flour mixture with your hands (wear disposable gloves so that you can withstand the heat better). Form approx. 8 dumplings of approx. 100 g each, press together very firmly, otherwise the dumplings will fall apart. These dumplings do not have to be nice and round. Place on a board.
• Place the dumplings in the boiling smoked soup with a gentle twisting motion, cook uncovered for approx. 5 minutes, they will rise. Lift the dumplings out of the pan with a slotted spoon, drain on a plate with kitchen paper.

Stöcklkraut:

• Bring approx. 2 litres of water, caraway seeds and salt to the boil in a pan. Wash the head of cabbage, cut into six to eight pieces, including the stalk, so that the leaves remain on the stalk. Cook the cabbage slices in the water for approx. 10 minutes. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Heat the lard in an ovenproof casserole dish, fry the cabbage on both sides, baste with a little gravy from the roasting tin and steam in the oven (next to the roast) until soft.
• After 15 minutes, test the cabbage for doneness by piercing it with a needle or wooden skewer. It should not be too crunchy. Season with salt and pepper and baste with vinegar. Remove, cover and keep warm (on the lowest heat on the hob or on the lowest shelf while the rind is crisping).

Finishing:

Cut the roast pork into thick slices. Spoon some juice onto the plates and arrange the roast pork on top. Arrange a piece of white cabbage and 1-2 dumplings next to it. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives.