IT’S hardly likely that you’d deliberately roast a joint of pork specifically to make this salad.

But, assuming there’s a little left over from the Sunday roast, here’s a quick and easy way to use it in a salad. We even put it on our menu.

Like adding croutons, the salad benefits from having the slightly salty taste and contrasting crunch from pork crackling. So, to make sure you’ve got some, before roasting the pork, ensure the skin’s as dry as possible and scored into finger-width strips (cut through the skin but not into the meat), then rub it over with a little oil and sprinkle with a little salt. A final 15 minutes at a higher roasting temperature before resting may help a little as well. Just make sure that you put some of the crackling aside for the salad.

Otherwise, I guarantee, there’ll be none left.

Serves two

  • Leftover roast pork and crackling
  • One dessert apple
  • A small handful of walnuts – broken up a bit
  • Two tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise
  • 50g of blue cheese
  • The juice of half a lemon
  • A pinch of paprika
  • A couple of handfuls of salad leaves
  • Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

First make the dressing. In a large bowl, and using a fork, mix the mayonnaise, blue cheese, lemon juice and paprika togethe – crushing the cheese to help it incorporate and adding a little water if needed to make a dressing consistency.

Taste and add pepper and possibly salt if necessary although the cheese may make it salty enough and the crackling will add a little saltiness too.

Then, thinly slice the apple – skin on or off, it’s up to you – and add it to the dressing, along with the salad leaves, tossing gently.

To serve, either put a couple of slices of pork on each plate and spoon salad on top or mix shredded pork into the salad and pile onto the plates. Sprinkle pieces of crackling over the dish and maybe follow with a further sprinkling of paprika.

Oldfields Eating House,
18 Claypath, Durham, DH1 1RH.
Tel: 0191-370-9595

  • For further recipes go to billoldfield.com
  • Oldfields Pantry ready meals are available from Fenwick in Newcastle or direct from the restaurant on Claypath in Durham on 0191-370-9595 or go to oldfieldspantry.co.uk
  • To join Oldfields’ free Real Food Club, visit oldfieldsrestaurants.com/real-foodclub.asp