Authentic Italian Porchetta

Rolling and tying porchetta from the outside in.

5 from 1 vote

An authentic Italian porchetta roast made from a pork belly and seasoned with fennel pollen. Delicious on a sandwich or on its own with its crackly bubbled skin and tender meat.

Prep Time30

Cook Time5

Rest time1

Total Time1 5 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: servings

Calories: 1586kcal

Author: Vincent DelGiudice

Cost: $100

Equipment

1 cutting board
1 wire rack
1 rimmed baking sheet
cooking twine

Ingredients

10 lb skin on pork belly
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoon kosher salt
1.5 tablespoon black pepper
¼ cup fennel pollen
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

Instructions

Lay your pork belly out on a cutting board, skin side down. Cut slices into the surface of the meat, 1 inch apart. Repeat in the opposite direction, creating a diamond pattern. (See above for images)
Season this side of the pork belly with black pepper, garlic, fennel pollen, crushed red pepper, and 2 tablespoon of salt. Use your fingers to rub the seasoning into the grooves of the cuts you have made.
With the muscle striations running side to side, roll the pork belly into a tight roll, starting with the longer side of the belly. (Trim any pork skin that may end up inside of the roll)
Cut about 12-15 pieces of twine around 18 inches long. Starting from the outside moving in, tie the twine around the porchetta roll, keeping the roll as tight as possible. Work your way from both outside edges in.
Once tied tightly, you can either cut the porchetta in half, or leave it as is. Cutting it into a 5 lb roll dramatically lowers cook time. You can then cook both rolls or freeze one.
Season the outside of the pork skin with 1 tablespoon of salt. Then place on a wire rack on a baking sheet in the refrigerator uncovered for 24 hours.
Remove the porchetta from the fridge an hour before cooking. Preheat the oven to 300℉. Pat the porchetta down with a paper towel to remove any and all moisture from the skin.
Place the porchetta into the oven on the baking sheet with the wire rack, seam side down. Bake for about 3 hours at 300 ℉. Bake for 1 hour untouched. After 1 hour, start basting the porchetta every half hour with the drippings from the porchetta.
After about 3 hours, the temperature of the porchetta should have reached at least 160℉. Place a knife through the center of the porchetta. It should enter and exit with minimal resistance.
If it's tender, raise the temperature of the oven to 450℉. Bake in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the skin is bubbling and crackling.
Remove from the oven and rest for 30 minutes. Use a serrated knife to cut 1-inch slices of porchetta. Serve as a roast or on a sandwich.

Notes

Choose a reliable butcher. Pork belly does all the work. It's minimally seasoned, and making sure to source a great piece of meat is really important. If you tell them what you're making, they will help you prep it.
Use fennel pollen, not fennel. Fennel pollen is really soft and will almost melt into the meat, whereas actual fennel seeds will be noticeable while eating the porchetta.
Leave the skin uncut. This allows the fat within to render really slowly and become tender. By basting the skin every 30-60 minutes, it will still get that crackly texture.
The temperature of pork belly is not hugely important. Even if it reaches 160 degrees F early, it doesn't mean you should immediately pull it out. The fat needs to render, and you should be able to stick a butter knife into the roll very easily (not through the skin).
Let the porchetta rest for 30 minutes before cutting.
Don't add sauces. I know your first thought is going to be, "how can I make this more saucy?" Trust me when I say, it is more than enough rich to be served right on some Italian bread as is.

Nutrition