Pragmatists Porchetta -MollyStevens

By CheeseDiva

After a "cooking" vacation in Italy, I served this at our NDE dinner in 2014. My first time cooking pork belly, and, the first time we had pork at our dinner.

Ingredients

• 1 center-cut pork loin with the belly flap attached, preferably with skin on (8 to 9pounds), or 1 boneless center-cut pork loin (about 5 pounds) plus 1 pork belly (4 to 5 pounds)
• 4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher salt
• Coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and ground to a coarse powder
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from cookingbythebook.com

Preparation

Step 1

To make this, we added potatoes to cook for the last hour. It’s a one meal wonder.

If you purchased a pork loin with the belly attached, unroll the roast so the skin side is down. Examine the belly portion and determine whether you need to trim away any of the top layer of fat. If the roast came without skin, turn it over and also trim away some of the fat from the top side if need be. All pork bellies have prodigious amounts of fat; how much you leave in place is a matter of personal preference. Ideally you want a layer just under ½ inch thick, so if the butcher has left more than this, use a large chefs knife to pare it down. (The fat can be saved for rendering or other use.)

1. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, 1 ½ tablespoons salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, the rosemary, sage, thyme, fennel, zest, and red pepper flakes. For the single-piece roast, unroll the belly flap and sprinkle the seasonings evenly over the belly and the roast, rubbing lightly so the seasonings adhere. Roll the flap around the loin; if the skin is a separate piece, drape it over, and secure the whole porchetta at 1- to 2-inch intervals with kitchen string.

HEAT THE OVEN.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 500°F (475°F convection).

Place the pork seam side down on a roasting rack in a sturdy roasting pan just large enough to accommodate it. Roast for 25 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F degrees (300°F convection). Continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers 140 to 145°, another 3 hours or so—but it’s a good idea to start checking the temperature after another 2 hours.

Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

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