All-Belly Porchetta

Name: All-Belly Porchetta
Prep time: 1 d
Cook time: 1 d
Total time: 1 d
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons baking powder; 2 Tbsps whole black peppercorns; 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper; 3 Tbsps whole fennel seed; 12 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grater; 12 servings Kosher salt; 1 whole boneless, rind-on pork belly, about 12 to 15 pounds; 3 Tbsps finely chopped rosemary, sage, or thyme leaves

You can never have too many side dish recipes, so give All-Belly Porchettan a try. This recipe serves 12. Watching your figure? This gluten free, dairy free, and primal recipe has 607 calories, 11g of protein, and 61g of fat per serving. If you have kosher salt, peppercorns, pepper, and a few other ingredients on hand, you can make it. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes around 24 hours.

Instructions

Place pork belly skin-side down on a large cutting board. Using a sharp chef's knife, score flesh at an angle using strokes about 1-inch apart. Rotate knife 90 degrees and repeat to create a diamond pattern in the flesh.

Ingredients you will need

Pork Belly

Equipment you will use

Cutting Board

Knife

Toast peppercorns and fennel seed in a small skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned and aromatic, about 2 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Fennel Seeds

Peppercorns

Toast

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until roughly crushed.

Equipment you will use

Mortar And Pestle

Season pork liberally with salt then sprinkle with crushed pepper and fennel, red pepper, chopped herbs, and microplaned garlic. Use your hands to rub the mixture deeply into the cracks and crevices in the meat.

Ingredients you will need

Red Pepper

Fennel

Garlic

Pepper

Herbs

Meat

Pork

Salt

Dry Seasoning Rub

Roll belly into a tight log and push to top of cutting board, seam-side down.

Ingredients you will need

Roll

Equipment you will use

Cutting Board

Cut 12 to 18 lengths of kitchen twine long enough to tie around the pork and lay them down in regular intervals along your cutting board, about 1-inch apart each.

Ingredients you will need

Pork

Equipment you will use

Cutting Board

Kitchen Twine

Lay rolled pork seam-side down on top of strings. Working from the outermost strings towards the center, tie up roast tightly.

Ingredients you will need

Pork

Combine 2 tablespoons kosher salt with 1 teaspoon baking powder. Rub mixture over entire surface of porchetta.

Ingredients you will need

Baking Powder

Kosher Salt

Dry Seasoning Rub

If roast is too large and unwieldy, carefully slice in half with a sharp chef's knife. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least overnight and up to three days. If desired, porchetta can also be frozen at this point for future use (see note)

Ingredients you will need

Wrap

Equipment you will use

Chefs Knife

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300°F.

Equipment you will use

Oven

Place pork in a v-rack set in a large roasting pan, or if cooking both halves at the same time, on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.

Ingredients you will need

Pork

Equipment you will use

Baking Sheet

Roasting Pan

Wire Rack

Place roasting pan in oven and roast until internal temperature of pork reaches 160°F, about two hours, basting with pan drippings every half hour. If you'd like to cook potatoes along with the porchetta, see note. Continue roasting until a knife or skewer inserted into the pork shows very little resistance asides from the outer layer of skin, about two hours longer.

Ingredients you will need

Potato

Pork

Equipment you will use

Roasting Pan

Skewers

Knife

Oven

Increase oven temperature to 500°F and continue roasting until completely crisp and blistered, about 20 to 30 minutes longer. Alternatively, you can remove the roast from the oven and tent with foil for up to two hours before finishing it in a preheated 500°F oven.

Equipment you will use

Aluminum Foil