In our Italian culinary journey, we’ve tasted many incredible dishes, and today we continue with another traditional Italian dish that puts the spotlight on pork, one of the country’s favorite meats.
Today, we journey to the Emilia-Romagna region, a gastronomic paradise that’s home to some of Italy’s most iconic foods, like Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, and Bolognese sauce. This region is also the birthplace of the dish we’ll explore today: Porchetta.
Porchetta is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, and carefully arranged with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. The end result is an incredibly flavorful, rich, and succulent roast, with perfectly crispy skin.
Given that preparing a traditional porchetta involves roasting an entire pig, the recipe I’ll provide will be a more home-friendly version, which focuses on the pork belly and loin.
So let’s roll up our sleeves and bring a taste of Emilia-Romagna into our kitchen with this Porchetta recipe.
Home-style Italian Porchetta
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg pork belly, skin on
- 1 kg pork loin
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh sage finely chopped
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- zest of 1 orange optional
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- olive oil
- kitchen twine for tying the roast
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F).
- If the pork belly's skin isn't already scored, use a sharp knife to make a crosshatch pattern on the skin.
- In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, rosemary, sage, fennel seeds and orange zest. Season generously with salt and pepper, then stir in enough olive oil to form a paste.
- Lay the pork belly skin-side down, then spread the herb paste evenly over the meat.
- Place the pork loin in the center of the pork belly. Roll up the pork belly to enclose the loin, then tie the roast at regular intervals with kitchen twine.
- Place the porchetta seam-side down in a roasting pan, then roast in the preheated oven for about 3 hours, or until the meat is tender and the skin is crisp.
- Let the porchetta rest for at least 15 minutes before carving into slices.
And there you have it, home-style Porchetta, a classic Italian roast that’s sure to impress at any gathering. Serve it with some roast potatoes and a fresh salad for a complete Italian feast. Until our next culinary adventure, buon appetito!