Porchetta

~A brilliantly roasted saddle of pork belly is a thing of beauty. One cannot help but admire the crackling textured crust and sun-burnished hue of perfectly roasted pork skin. The mere hint of fat layered underneath; juicy and glistening. Then following after, the moist, tender, succulent center cut pork loin. While it may appear daunting, porchetta requires very little “maintenance”.  The most important part is in making sure the entire roast, is tied up tight and even. My eternal thanks go out to all those who came before me, to test out different techniques and theories on this wonderful subject matter. I researched, read, and cherry-picked what I felt would work best. I don’t do this very often, if ever. But this entry will encompass pictures of each step as well.

Photo credit for this beautiful masterpiece goes to Jellybean Chan.

Special Equipment:

    roasting pan

    plastic wrap

    butcher string

    meat thermometer

*Cook’s Note: The weight of the loin and belly are of little importance. Whichever piece you purchase first, you just want to make sure the other piece of meat will be of the same length. Example: I purchased a 2+ lb piece of pork loin. When I purchased the pork belly, instead of asking for the weight, I specified how long of a piece I needed and that it had to be about 12” in width all the way down. The first time I made it, it was a 4 ½ lb piece of belly. But the second time, it was nearly 7lbs. Why? Because while the loin weighed about the same, it was longer.

**2^nd Cook’s Note: For the best way of reheating porchetta, set a pan on medium low heat and pan roast with a tbsp of butter. Let it sizzle and fry for about 3min on each side. This is the best way of getting the skin to retain that wonderful crackle.

Salt Rub Ingredients:

1/8 cup salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp fresh sage- finely minced

3 garlic cloves- finely minced

1 tsp fresh rosemary

1 tsp fennel seed

Directions:

1. On low heat, gently toast rosemary and fennel seeds. Swirl and move around for about 5min. Pour rosemary and fennel into spice grinder or finely mince using knife.
2. Combine all ingredients in small bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Porchetta Ingredients:

2lb center cut pork loin

pork belly (see cook’s note)

½ orange- sliced thinly

½ bunch cilantro- finely chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

*salt rub

Directions:

1. Rinse loin with cold water to ensure any bone chips have been cleaned off. Shake and pat dry. Set aside.
2. Rinse pork belly with cold water. Shake and pat dry. Using tweezers, pull out any long stray hairs. The shorter ones will burn off in the oven.
3. Using a very sharp knife, score pork belly skin in approximately 1” criss cross sections. You may also want to make 1”-2” long cuts down. This will make it much easier to cut through the crispy skin and portion out, once porchetta is roasted. (pictured below)
4. If you are an expert at tying roasts, skip the plastic wrap. I will admit I am a novice and have only done this a handful of times. Porchetta is fairly cumbersome and this is the only way I have been able to figure out how to tie it as a one person job.
5. Lay 2 long sheets of plastic wrap overlapping slightly across the bottom of a roasting pan. Lay pork belly skin side down.
6. Rub thoroughly with salt rub all across the meat and down the sides. It may seem a bit much but remember, this will help season the loin as well. (pictured below)
7. Lay orange slices in an overlapping row across. (pictured below)
8. Spread cilantro across the meat as well. (pictured below)
9. Look closely at the pork belly to check whether one side is slightly thicker than the other. Lay the thicker end of the loin on the thinner side of the pork belly to help even out the total circumference. (pictured below)
10. Grab the end of plastic wrap closest to you and try to roll the meat in a way where the plastic wrap will meet with the other side of the plastic wrap, but without rolling the plastic into the porchetta. If you haven’t figured it out, this is my trick to roll the meat together, so I can (somewhat) neatly tie it all up.
11. Again, if you know of a better way to tie it, go for it. Take one end of the butcher string and tie it as tightly as you can on one end of the porchetta. Lifting it up and slightly cradling one end, wrap the string as tightly as you can down and around the porchetta. When you get to the end, wrap it twice and then go back around up. Measure out about 6” more of string and loop around one of the rows of string and tie tightly.
12. Carefully remove plastic wrap. You may need to cut around the strings and just tug it out in pieces. (pictured below)
13. Place porchetta in roasting pan. Pour olive oil over porchetta and rub it evenly across surface.
14. Refrigerate uncovered for 1-2 days. Leaving it uncovered will give the skin a chance to dry out a little and increase crispiness.
15. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place onto center rack and roast for about 4hrs.
16. Using a meat thermometer, stab it into very center of porchetta to take an accurate reading. Once internal temperature reaches 157-160, increase heat to 450 degrees and roast for about 30-40min or until skin is crackling an reddish, mahogany hue. (pictured below after 4hrs and after the additional high temperature roast)
17. Remove from oven and let meat rest in roasting pan uncovered for 20min.
18. Using both hands, carefully lift and set onto nearby carving board. Cut strings and carefully pull away from meat. (pictured below)
19. Carve according to your own lengthwise incisions. Serve immediately.