Crispy Porchetta

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Crispy Porchetta

What is porchetta?

Porchetta is the Italian pork roast (aka porchetta roast). You have juicy pork filled with a fresh marinade and a crispy crackling on the outside. It's a great dish to make when you have family or friends over for a meal or for your Sunday lunch.

Prep

You need to prep the pork the day before! This allows the skin to dry out properly so it can crispy up nicely when cooked, and it gives the marinade time to penetrate the meat.

Ingredient Notes

Pork Belly:

You want a pork belly with the bone out, skin on and the loin still attached. This will be hard to find off the shelf, I always need to make a special order with my local butcher for this one. So go chat to your butcher about it. Alternatively, you can use a cut without the loin attach and just buy that separately.

Fennel Pollen:

This one is not super common so you can just use crushed up fennel seeds instead

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Ingredients

1 pork belly, bone out, skin on, with the pork loin still attached (If you can't get one, a pork belly without the loin will also work)
4 large sprigs of rosemary
12 cloves of garlic
zest of 1 lemon
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp (15 ml) of fennel pollen (or toasted fennel seeds)
1 tbsp (15 ml) of chilli flakes
30g (about 1 oz) of salt

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Boning knife
Grater or Microplane
Large mixing bowl
Butcher’s twine
Oven tray with rack
Thermometer
Kitchen blowtorch (optional, for crackling touch-ups)

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Directions

MARINADE (DAY BEFORE THE COOK)

Finely chop the rosemary and parsley and add to a medium bowl. Grate your garlic and zest the lemon into the same bowl. Then, add the fennel pollen, chilli flakes and salt.
Mix it all together and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

PREP THE PORK (DAY BEFORE THE COOK)

To prepare the pork, start by rolling it up to see where the skin overlaps. Trim the skin back to that point, as you don't want any skin rolled on the inside.
Next, remove the loin by following the seam. Then, butterfly the loin by running your knife down the middle and on each side to open it up. Add about 1/4 of the marinade and set it aside, ready to be marinated and rolled.
To prepare the belly part, start by scoring the skin in the opposite direction to how the string will be tied. A razor blade is ideal, but a sharp knife works too. Next, cut deep score lines into the flesh side for the marinade to penetrate.
Rub the rest of the marinade into the belly part thoroughly.
Place the loin back onto the belly and roll the belly over the loin. Tie the porchetta, working from the centre outwards as tightly as possible. Then, place it on an oven tray with a rack and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 24-48 hours.

THE NEXT DAY

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 225°C (445°F). Cook the porchetta at this temperature for 40-45 minutes, then turn the oven down to 140°C (285°F) and cook until the internal temperature reaches 75°C (170°F). This will take about 3 hours, but it's best to start checking around 1.5 hours into the cooking time.
Once the internal temperature reaches 75°C, remove the porchetta and let it rest for 20-30 minutes before carving and serving. If it's cooked quicker than anticipated, you can leave it to rest longer and then briefly place it back in the oven to bring the exterior back to temperature.F

Notes

Chef Tips

Pork belly prep (do this the day before)

Trim the belly so the ends meet cleanly when you roll it up (you don't want any skin folded on the inside). Remove the loin by running a boning knife under it where it meets the fat, keeping the skin and belly intact. Trim the thick fat layer slightly once the loin is off, but don't take it all as it keeps the loin moist during the cook. Score the flesh side of the belly with deep cuts so the marinade can penetrate. Double-check the roll before you put it in the fridge: the two sides should meet with no overhang. WATCH THE VIDEO, as it will give you a visual guide to the prep stage.

Score the skin

Flip the belly over and score the skin diagonally, cuts about 2cm apart.

Loin prep

Butterfly the loin by running your knife down the middle, stopping about 7cm from the bottom, then go in sideways on both sides until you can open it flat. Rub in a quarter of the marinade and roll it back up.

Leave the porchetta uncovered in the fridge for at least 24 hours

The fridge rest is the most important step for crackling. Leaving it uncovered on a rack allows air to circulate around the skin and draw out as much moisture as possible. The drier the skin going into the oven, the better it blisters. Don’t be tempted to wrap it or cover it. Forty-eight hours gives an even better result than twenty-four.

Rotate the porchetta toward the end of the cook

The skin on the underside of the roll sits against the rack and doesn’t get the same direct heat as the top. Rotating it 90 to 180 degrees during the last 20-30 minutes of the high-heat stage helps the crackling crisp up more evenly. If any stubborn spots still won’t puff, a kitchen blowtorch held close fixes them in seconds.

Storage

Carve only what you need and leave the rest of the roll intact: keeping the porchetta whole prevents it from drying out. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat slices in an oven at 180°C for 10-15 minutes. It’s also excellent cold, sliced thin and served in a bread roll.

FAQs

Can I use a pork belly without the loin attached?

Yes, and it still makes excellent porchetta. You’ll have a more uniform roll with slightly less textural contrast between the outer belly and the centre, but the herb filling and crackling will be the same. Just roll and tie the belly on its own.

What if the crackling doesn’t puff up properly?

Two things to check: the fridge rest and the initial oven temperature. The skin needs to be as dry as possible going in, so make sure you’ve rested it uncovered. If the crackling still needs help at the end of the cook, return the oven to 220°C for 5-10 minutes, or use a kitchen blowtorch directly on the spots that haven’t puffed.

Can I prepare the porchetta ahead of cooking?

Yes. Roll it, tie it, and leave it on a rack in the fridge uncovered for up to 48 hours before cooking. The longer rest actually improves the crackling since the skin has more time to dry out. The marinade also continues to penetrate the meat the longer it sits.