Bon Appetit's Dish of the Year

How to Make a Porchetta in 4 “Easy” Steps             

1. Take a trip to Italy to research the origins and classic traditions of this national culinary treasure.  Like the ubiquitous taco trucks on L.A. street corners, Porchetta trucks abound in central Italy, especially Umbria. There, Italians line up patiently for some of this porcine goodness which the porchetta vender will slice off of the mahagony colored roll to order.  Most enjoy it on the spot, thinly sliced into a Panini (sandwich). Traditionally this amazing roast is from a pig that’s been boned, stuffed with savory aromatic herbs like Sage, Fennel Pollen and Rosemary, and rolled tightly around some of the entrails, like the liver, and the heart.  The skin of the pig keeps things moist while it roasts for long, slow hours on a spit over a wood fire.  

The trip to Italy should include further research into which cooking methods to avoid when making a DIY Porchetta. For instance, a novice porchetta maker should definitely avoid trying to cook a ready made one from an Italian grocery store in one’s vacation rental kitchen where the only pan is a non-stick frying pan and the kitchen is Barbie doll sized.  There, where you have no recipes to rely on, you and your friend Tim may wrongly attempt to sear it first in the teeny tiny frying pan which will immediately fill the Barbie doll sized kitchen, and the rest of the apartment, with smoke.  Luckily the final product will still be delicious, albeit scorched blacked in spots, and will be enough to convince you more research is in order.

2. Convince your husband that you and your BFF must take a girls only trip to San Francisco to do yet more Porchetta research. After all, Bon Appetit crowned Porchetta the Dish of the Year in 2011. This thinly disguised journey will happily give you the opportunity to dine and drink in San Francisco’s best restaurants, shop madly, and enjoy the big city sights.  Saturday morning’s breakfast at the Ferry Building Farmers Market should consist of the Roli-Roti Porchetta sandwich, the best porchetta this side of Italy.  This juicy, crunchy, dripping sandwich will be the last bit of inspiration you need. After your sandwich you’ll visit vendors selling locally grown meat and you and your friend will briefly consider buying a ready made Porchetta roast for $110.00.  Reason will ultimately prevail. You will gamely decide to tackle a real Porchetta from scratch. Well, one without the entrails at least.

A trip to the Fatted Calf Charcuterie in Hayes Valley on the way out of town Sunday morning is revelatory. There, in the butcher’s case, crying out to go home with us, is a huge slab of Skin-on Pork Belly. We don’t even blink at the $44.00 price tag.  Baby in tow, we head home.

3. Arrange a dinner party with carnivorous friends and schedule yet another girls night with your BFF to assemble the Porchetta a couple nights in advance.  The girls night can include yet more wine drinking and frivolity but when time comes to roll the pork belly around the pork loin you better have your wits in order.  If not, you’ll find that the pork belly doesn’t fit quite all the way around the pork loin leaving a rather large gap and you will panic. A frightened look at the clock will reveal it’s almost 7:00 pm. And there’s probably no such thing as a 24 hour Porchetta Hotline. If you’re lucky, you’ll remember that there’s probably still someone on duty at the Fatted Calf Chacuterie and if the gods are smiling, someone will answer the phone. A reassuring man’s voice on the other end of the line will talk you off the ledge and assure you that a small gap in the roast is no big deal.

4. Two days later, after the baby has had a long, slow, rest in the fridge, it’s time to cook.  With any luck will this blessed event will take place in the BFF’s kitchen, not yours. Alas, at the last minute you may decide more intensive research is in order to prevent one’s home kitchen from filling with smoke. The Bon Appetit recipe advises cooking at 500 degrees for 40 minutes before turning the temperature down.  Some labored and panicky internet surfing will lead you down a safer path: a lower (less smoky) temperature espoused by the Fatted Calf.

 

5. Pull the roast out of the oven when the internal temperature of the loin hits 138-140 degrees.  Let rest for at least 30 minutes while the temp rises to 145. Now for the easy part: Slice, plate, make a toast to your gorgeous masterpiece, and eat.

Porchetta

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

About 12 servings

>1 5–6-pound piece fresh pork belly, skin on (look for one that’s big enough to wrap around a loin)
1 (trimmed) 2–3-pound boneless, center-cut pork loin
3 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
3 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt
1 orange, seeded, thinly sliced

Put belly skin side down; arrange loin in center. Roll belly around loin so the short ends of the belly meet. If any of the belly or loin overhangs, trim meat. Unroll; set loin aside.

Toast fennel seeds and red pepper flakes in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Tip spices into a bowl; let cool. Finely grind spices in a spice mill and transfer to a small bowl, along with the sage, rosemary, and garlic; set fennel mixture aside.

Assemble porchetta according to steps 1-5.

Refrigerate roast, uncovered, for 1–2 days to allow skin to air-dry; pat occasionally with paper towels.

Let porchetta sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Place into a pre-heated 375 degree oven. After about 40 minutes, when the roast begins to brown, turn the oven down to 325 degrees and cook for approximately two to three hours. Your porchetta is done when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast reads 140 degrees.

 If skin is not yet deep brown and crisp, increase heat to 500°F and roast for 10 minutes more. Let rest for 30-45 minutes. Using a serrated knife, slice into 1/2" rounds.

To assemble:

1. Set belly skin side down. Using a knife, score the belly flesh in a checkerboard pattern 1/3" deep so roast will cook evenly.

2. Flip belly skin side up. Using a paring knife, poke dozens of 1/8"-deep holes through skin all over belly. Don't be gentle! Keep poking.

3. Using the jagged edge of a meat mallet, pound skin all over for 3 minutes to tenderize, which will help make skin crispy when roasted.

4. Turn belly and generously salt both it and loin; rub both with fennel mixture. Arrange loin down middle of belly. Top with orange slices.

5. Roll belly around loin; tie crosswise with kitchen twine at 1/2" intervals. Trim twine. Transfer roast to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.