I love porchetta - the Italian pork roast! You have juicy pork with loads of flavour and a crispy crackling on the outside. It's a great dish to make when you have family or friends over for a meal or for your Sunday lunch. Here's my porchetta recipe.
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Category
Lunch
Servings
12
Prep time
24 hours
Cook time
4 hours
I love porchetta - the Italian pork roast! You have juicy pork with loads of flavour and a crispy crackling on the outside. It's a great dish to make when you have family or friends over for a meal or for your Sunday lunch. Here's my porchetta recipe.
Ingredients
-
1 pork belly, bone out, skin on, with the pork loin still attached (If you can't get one, a pork belly without the loin will also work)
- 4 large sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
- 12 cloves of garlic, grated
-
zest of 1 lemon
- 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
-
1 tbsp (15 ml) of fennel pollen (or toasted fennel seeds)
-
1 tbsp (15 ml) of chilli flakes
- 30g (about 1 oz) of salt
Directions
To make the marinade, mix everything except the pork in a bowl. Leave it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
- To prepare the pork, start by rolling it to see where the skin overlaps. Trim the skin back to that point, as you don't want any skin rolled on the inside.
- Next, remove the loin by following the seam. Then, butterfly the loin by running your knife down the middle and on each side to open it up. Add about 1/4 of the marinade and set it aside, ready to be marinated and rolled.
- To prepare the belly part, start by scoring the skin in the opposite direction to how the string will be tied. A razor blade is ideal, but a sharp knife works too. Next, cut deep score lines into the flesh side for the marinade to penetrate.
- Rub the rest of the marinade into the belly part thoroughly.
Place the loin back onto the belly and roll the belly over the loin. Tie the porchetta, working from the centre outwards as tightly as possible. Then, place it on an oven tray with a rack and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 225°C (445°F). Cook the porchetta at this temperature for 40-45 minutes, then turn the oven down to 140°C (285°F) and cook until the internal temperature reaches 75°C (170°F). This will take about 3 hours, but it's best to start checking around 1.5 hours into the cooking time.
Once the internal temperature reaches 75°C, remove the porchetta and let it rest for 20-30 minutes before carving and serving. If it's cooked quicker than anticipated, you can leave it to rest longer and then briefly place it back in the oven to bring the exterior back to temperature.
