This crispy and tender, sweet and savoury pork belly with pistachio stuffing will leave you wanting more!

Place the peppercorns and fennel in a small frying pan and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Grind coarsely in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Add the garlic, salt flakes and chilli and mix through.

Line a large oven tray with foil and baking paper. Unwrap the pork and wipe down with paper towel. With the longest side towards you, using a metal ruler and Stanley knife, score the skin in straight parallel lines 1cm apart, starting at one of the short ends. Then turn around and score meat in 5cm squares or diamonds. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the meat and rub in. Place onto the prepared tray, skin side is up. Refrigerate uncovered overnight so the skin dries out (this helps it crisp up for crackling).

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the sage and cook until crisp. Add the apples, spice and sugar and cook for 1–2 minutes. Take out one cup of apple mixture and process to a smooth apple sauce; place in a jar and refrigerate until required. Mix the pistachios through the remaining cooked apple mixture and refrigerate until required.

Preheat the oven to 250ºC (230ºC fan-forced). Remove the pork from the fridge and flip the skin side down with the long side towards you. Cut eight 50cm-long pieces of kitchen twine and slide under the pork at regular intervals. Place the apple filling along the centre of the pork belly and form into a long thin log, using the twine to help you. Tie tightly in bows, not knots, so you can tighten and retie as you go.

Return the pork to the tray, seam-side down. Rub the skin with oil and sprinkle it with salt flakes. Cook for 30–40 minutes at the higher temperature until the skin has crackled. Reduce the heat to 160ºC (140ºC fan-forced) and cook for 4 hours until very tender. Slice thickly, remove the twine, and serve with mashed potato, apple sauce and asparagus.