Want to impress your friends or family with an amazing dish that is easy to prepare, beyond delicious and is something a bit different than your usual Sunday pork roast? We have just the right recipe for you!
If you are wondering what the word Porchetta stands for, the explanation is simple. It’s basically a stuffed pork roast originating from Italian culinary tradition. And the best part may very well be the cost of all the ingredients. Pork belly is actually a relatively affordable cut of pork, that can become incredibly tender, juicy and delicious, when cooked low and slow.
To prepare porchetta start with a nice evenly thick cut of pork belly with skin on. Though you can also buy pork ribs and cut the bones out (that’s exactly what we did). Chop some garlic, parsley and other fresh herbs you have at hand. Lightly cut into the skin to form small squares, then season the pork belly with salt, pepper and herbs. Finally roll it tightly and secure it with some natural cord, so it will keep it’s shape.
Our porchetta was just big enough for 4
servings. We roasted it for good two hours on 160°C and then for half an hour
at 190°C. Since pork belly contains a lot of fat, you won’t have a problem with
over cooking. Take your time, longer will be better! When the porchetta was
done we put it to rest for 20 minutes. In the meantime we drained the fat from
the baking pan and deglazed all the caramelized bits with white balsamic
vinegar. This produced a delicious sauce from almost »thin air«!
We served the porchetta with potato purée and pan fried some kale on butter
with fresh chili and lemon juice.
INGRIDIENTS WE USED:
- Pork belly
- Garlic
- Parsley
- Salt
- Pepper
- Spices of choice
- Oil
- Butter
- Potatoes
- Kale
- Chilli
- Milk
- Balsamic vinegar
TIPS:
- If you decide to make porchetta from pork ribs, you can use the leftover bones to prepare pork stock. It might come in handy for making a soup or all kind of other dishes. You can also store it in the fridge for later.
- To make porchetta more even and fine cut the pork belly into half of the thickness. In the process be careful since both sides still have to stick together! Make sure to check out the video to see how we did this.
