Roast pork and crackling with apples, lemon and thyme

Method

1. Heat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/gas 8 or as hot as it will go. Put the pork (with its very dry skin) in a suitably sized roasting tin. 
2. Season all over with salt, then transfer to the hot oven and roast for 25-30 minutes. Once the crackling is looking good, remove the pork and turn the oven down to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5.
3. Scatter the red onion wedges over the base of a large, clean ovenproof dish. Carefully lift the pork from its hot roasting tin and set it down on top of the onions.
4. Put the whole apples around the pork, arrange the lemon slices in between them, scatter over the sage leaves, bay, thyme and fennel fronds (if using) and season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the crushed fennel seeds and drizzle everything with the olive oil.
5. Put the pork and apples in the oven and cook for 35 minutes more until the pork is cooked through and the apples are soft but not collapsing. (If the apples look too soft, you can take them out of the oven and allow the pork to finish cooking without them.) 
6. Remove the dish from the oven and rest the meat in a warm place for 10-15 minutes. Serve everyone a few thick slices of pork, some generous strips of crackling, an apple and some lemony, herby juices.