LYNN BAIN tells us porchetta is Italian rolled roast pork, often pork belly, that has been enhanced with herbs and seasonings.
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Rubbing the seasonings of garlic, fennel and rosemary into the pork and then rolling the meat up, distributes the herby flavourings throughout the rolled pork, AKA porchetta.
While lovely straight out of the oven, it can also be eaten cold, just like ‘deli meats’, making it ideal for a picnic.
On a slider bun, tightly rolled porchetta makes ideal one-handed food.
Handy hint one: You could use finely chopped sage as an alternative to rosemary.
Handy hint two: Try toasting the fennel seeds over a low heat in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes to enhance the flavour of the fennel.
Handy hint three: You could add a teeny sprinkling of dried chilli flakes to the porchetta if you like a bite of heat.
Handy hint four: After rolling the pork, I like to leave it, uncovered, in the fridge for a few hours. Do remember to remove the pork from the fridge at least an hour before cooking.
Handy hint five: Removing the rind from the ‘roast’ prior to starting this recipe, allows for a smaller diameter ‘roll’ which is ideal for slider buns. This process also leaves just enough fat on the belly meat for flavouring and juiciness.
PORCHETTA
INGREDIENTS
1 pork belly
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 tbsp fennel seeds
ground black pepper
2 sprigs rosemary
Step 1: Strip the ‘leaves’ from the rosemary sprig and chop them finely.
Step 2: Rub the finely grated garlic into the prepared pork belly.
Step 3: Now massage the fennel seeds into the garlic on the pork.
Step 4: Rosemary's turn. Sprinkle the finely chopped rosemary generously over the surface of the pork. Pat the rosemary onto the surface of the meat. Now add a grinding of black pepper.
Step 5: The seasoned pork ready for rolling.
Step 6: Start rolling the pork. Rolling from the narrowest end is a good idea as this keeps everything within the porky parcel.
Step 7: The rolled pork ready for tying.
Step 8: Tie the porchetta with cooking twine at several spots along the roll.
Step 9: The porchetta tied off and ready for roasting. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Step 10: Drizzle a baking tray with some olive oil and place the porchetta onto the tray. Rub a little extra olive oil onto the surface of the porchetta. Place the porchetta into the preheated oven and roast for about an hour (depending on the size of your porchetta).
Step 11: The cooked porchetta. At this stage, remove the ties/string; this is often best done by snipping with a pair of pointy-nosed scissors.
Step 12: To serve, an option is to place a generous slice of the porchetta on a toasted 'slider' bun with perhaps some crispy lettuce and a couple of slices of ripe tomato.
11°C