Cherry Sauce for Pork
When I organise Christmas lunch I always try to have several protein options. This year pork belly is one of the options and I have decided to pair it with a delicious cherry sauce. Cherries are absolutely delicious this time of year so a cherry sauce for pork, turkey or chicken makes perfect sense.
This year I also purchased a Ninja Foodi so tried cooking my pork belly using that. I always have so much to cook in the oven! My slowcooker also gets a run every year too. The pork belly cooked in the pressure cooker for 35 minutes. I did this the day before and kept the pork in the fridge. Rub on some olive oil and sprinkle with salt. You then just need to use the grill setting until the crackling is crisp. This took around 10 minutes.
If you don’t have a Ninja Foodi cook the pork belly the traditional way. Line a pan with baking paper and rub oil over the skin then sprinkle with salt. Roast in a preheated 140C oven for one hour. Increase the temperature to 210C and cook for another 20 minutes or until the skin crackles. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Making the Cherry Sauce for pork
To cook the cherry sauce you have to halve the cherries and remove the pits. Finely chop one red onion and fry in some olive oil in a saucepan.
Add in the cherries, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, rind and 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil then turn down to low and cook for about 40 minutes. You want most of the liquid to evaporate so the sauce is not too runny.
If you don’t like your sauces too “chunky” you could use a stick blender to make a smooth sauce. I personally love the rustic, homemade look of the sauce as is. If you do blend make sure you remove the spices and rind. I put my sauce in a sterilised jar to use the following week. It is so good and you could serve it with turkey or chicken as well.
Cherry Sauce for Pork
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 600 grams fresh cherries, halved and pitted
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 whole star anise
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 2 strips of orange rind
Instructions
- Add onion and oil to a saucepan and cook over low heat for four minutes or until onion softens.
- Add cherries, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, balsamic vinegar, juice, rind and 1 cup of water.
- Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and the mixture is thick.
- Allow to cool and then store in refrigerator until needed.
If you are looking for some more Christmas recipes have a look at my easy Christmas Ham recipe.
