Homemade porchetta * recipe, step-by-step procedure, secrets and techniques.

The kitchen is open for porchetta. Does it happen to you that, when it comes to porchetta, the salivation starts at its peak, making you immediately want to bite into a sandwich? To me yes, always, even while I'm writing this post... But do you want to put the satisfaction of preparing it at home with your own hands and maybe invite some friends to eat it together with a good wine or a good beer? It is a long but relatively simple preparation, with a few fixed ingredients: pork, a curing made of salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic, to which sage, bay leaf, wine and oil are added according to local traditions. But did you know that there is a fundamental difference between the porchetta that is made in Ariccia and the Castelli Romani and the one that is prepared in the Viterbo area? It concerns the use of wild fennel, the twigs and tufts that generally grow spontaneously in the countryside and that also produce fennel seed and fennel flowers: in porchetta di Ariccia it is not used, while it is mandatory to say the least in porchetta in Viterbo (and in the regions north of Lazio). I was born in Lazio. 

Ingredients

A 4 kg rectangle of pork belly defatted and rind (thoroughly washed and sanitized)

1.2 kg pork loin (thoroughly boneless)

100 gr of fine salt (2% of the total weight of the meat)

15 gr ground pepper

30 gr of chopped fresh rosemary

10 gr of chopped fresh sage

40 gr of fresh fennel, coarsely chopped

10 gr fennel seeds

2 cloves garlic, minced (creamed)

50 ml flavoured oil (with garlic, rosemary and bay leaf)

50 ml white wine

Preparation of the flavored oil In a saucepan, infuse two bay leaves, a sprig of rosemary and a clove of garlic cut in half in 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil, heat and keep at 40°C for up to an hour. Preparation of the porchetta.

Prepare the flavored oil one hour before the start of processing. Make sure that you have removed the excess fat from the inside of the bacon and that the rind has been well washed and sanitized (I recommend that you have it done by your trusted butcher). Separate the rind from the meat along the short sides of the rectangle on one side for about 1/3 of the bacon, and on the other for about 1/4 WARNING, use a proper knife and use all precautions not to cut yourself. If necessary, open the thickest parts of the bacon that are on the short sides WARNING, use a suitable knife and use all precautions not to cut yourself. After removing the herbs and garlic in infusion, mix the oil for the marinade with the white wine and grease the entire surface of the meat (including the pork loin), massaging for a few minutes (without neglecting the internal parts of the rind that we have previously separated); Leave the marinade on for about an hour. In the meantime, finely chop the rosemary and sage with a knife, then chop the garlic until creamy, then assemble the tanning: rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, garlic, fennel seed. Coarsely chop the fennel sprigs and set aside

After an hour from the beginning of the marinade, season all the meats with the curing, taking care to reach all the parts where we have made the cuts. Also place the fennel on the meat and make sure that all the seasoning adheres to the meat. Place the pork loin on the bacon and wrap it with the flaps of meat of the bacon open like a book, then wrap everything with the flaps of rind. Make temporary ties with string, then make holes with a knife in the points of the rind where we will pass the needle and thread for the sewing, then proceed with the sewing. When the seam is complete, remove the temporary ligatures and make the final binding. Place the porchetta in a container with paper towels and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, covered with plastic wrap (if you don't have time, don't worry, this step can be skipped and you can go directly to cooking). After 8 hours, bring the porchetta back to room temperature for about 2 hours. Make cuts or holes in the rind, wrap the tips of the porchetta with aluminum foil, sprinkle the surface with a little coarse salt and flavored extra virgin olive oil. Place the porchetta on a wire rack with a baking tray placed underneath to collect the liquids it will lose during cooking; bake in a carefully preheated oven at 220°C and bake for 40 minutes until the rind is well browned and begins to harden (it will take 30 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the porchetta). From time to time, pour water into the pan placed under the grill, avoid pouring water in the last hour of cooking. At the end of the first phase of cooking, remove the aluminum foil and continue cooking at 160°C until it reaches 72°C at the core, if possible use a probe/thermometer, otherwise adjust knowing that it will take about an hour of cooking per kg of raw meat (also including the time spent in the first phase of cooking at 220°C): For example, for a 5 kg porchetta it will take about 5 hours of cooking time. Two tips to get the crispy and puffy crust: turn on the fan in the last hour of cooking and turn on the grill in the last 10 minutes of cooking, but be very careful not to burn the surface. Once out of the oven, wait at least 3 hours before cutting the porchetta, remembering that the porchetta is delicious even the day after cooking.