Known as Panino con la Porchetta, this sandwich consists of juicy pork (porchetta) with a crunchy crackling, sundried tomato pesto and basil in a ciabatta roll. It’s a classic Italian street food from central Italy, and the concept is simple: a sturdy ciabatta roll with sliced porchetta, some crackling, sundried tomato pesto and a few basil leaves.

The prep time in the header is just the assembly. Making the porchetta takes a couple of hours and has its own recipe on the site. Same with the ciabatta and the pesto. You can buy both if you want to keep things simple and the sandwich will still be good, but homemade porchetta is obviously the point.

The step that makes the most difference is dipping the cut side of the roll lid into the pork resting juices before you close the sandwich. It’s a small thing but it seasons the bread and ties the whole thing together. For that to work you need a porchetta that has had enough time to rest properly so there are actually juices to collect. Beyond that it’s just assembly. Serves 8, or fewer people with seconds.

I really love this sandwich and it's great if you have leftover porchetta or pork belly.

Ingredient Notes

Porchetta:

This is Italian slow-roasted pork, traditionally a whole deboned pig seasoned heavily with fennel, garlic, rosemary and black pepper, then rolled and roasted until the skin is completely crisp. You'll need to follow my porchetta recipe to make the porchetta first before making your sandwich. If you don’t want to make a full porchetta, some Italian delis and good butcher shops sell it by the kilo. My recipe is linked at the top of the ingredients list.

Sundried tomato pesto (pesto rosso):

This is quite different from basil pesto. It’s made with sundried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and sometimes roasted peppers, and it has a concentrated, slightly sharp flavour that cuts through the richness of the pork. A decent jar from the supermarket works fine here. If you want to make it from scratch, you can follow my recipe. I wouldn't substitute with green basil pesto. The flavour profile is too different and it won’t work as well against the pork.

Ciabatta rolls:

The bread needs to be sturdy enough to hold up against the juicy pork and the resting juices you’ll soak into the lid. A soft roll will go soggy quickly. Ciabatta works because of its open crumb and firm crust. If you’re buying rather than baking, look for rolls with a proper crust rather than packaged soft ones. You could also use a crusty baguette cut into portions if ciabatta rolls are hard to find. Here's my recipe is you want to bake it.