Porchetta
Porchetta, first made in central Italy, traditionally roasted the entire deboned pig over an open spit. If you’re not up for that, essentially, you want to cover the loin with the belly; cook it so that the pork belly is crackly crisp and delicious while the loin is tender and moist.
Son and Chef "thejobert" recently made Porchetta with 6 lb of loin (pork chop without the bone) and 5.5 pounds of pork belly. It will feed a crowd, so invite lots of people. Order the pork loin and pork belly from a butcher to suit the size of your crowd. The butcher will cut and tie the loin and belly; and score the pork belly if you ask them to. J-Bert scored the belly after brining. This produces the cracking crisp exterior Porchetta is famous for.
Porchetta is a process and so worth it, whether serving for a dinner crowd and/or open house the next day. We served the Porchetta with Chimichurri, sliders and various salads. Day 1: Porchetta Brine Day 2: Air Dry Day 3: Cook
Ingredients
- 6 lbs Pork Loin
- 5.5 lb Pork Belly
- 14 -16 Fresh Sage leaves
- 3 Garlic cloves
- Orange juice from half an orange and zest from the whole orange
- Generous amount of Black Pepper
Instructions
- Remove pork from refrigerator 2 hours prior to cooking.
- Generously pepper the underside of the pork belly and inside butterflied loin. Massage orange zest and juice from half an orange into the underside of the pork belly and inside the butterflied loin. Micro plane 3 garlic cloves, over the orange juice and zest. Next place a sage leaf every 2 inches along underside of pork belly and in butterflied section. Tie loin and belly back together.
- Cook skin side up at 320 degrees until internal temperature reaches 160 (about 3 hours). Increase heat to 500 until internal temperature reaches 180 (15 – 20 minutes) and skin puffs. Rest half an hour before slicing and serving.
