Porchetta
A home version of the central Italian roast sold at markets and roadside stalls, in which fatty belly is rolled around lean loin — not for looks, but to solve a problem: the belly fat renders over nearly four hours and bastes the loin, which alone would come out dry. The skin needs its own technique: a night uncovered in the fridge dries it, and a final 25 minutes at 230°C turns it into a blistered sheet.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Seasoning 20 min
- Drying the skin 720 min
- Rolling 25 min
- Roasting 210 min
- Crackling 25 min
- Resting 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneScore the skin in a close grid
Lay the belly skin up and score it in a grid at one-centimetre intervals, cutting through the skin and part of the fat, but not down to the meat. The cuts open a route for rendering fat — without them the skin lifts like a cushion and never crisps.
Ingredients: 2500 g pork belly · 1000 g pork loin · 45 g salt
A grid every centimetre — through skin, not into meat.Rub the paste on the meat, salt on the skin
Pound the fennel seeds with the garlic, herbs, chilli, pepper and lemon zest, then stir in the olive oil. Turn the belly skin side down, season the meat side and the whole loin with two thirds of the salt, then rub the paste into the meat side of the belly and into the loin. Rub the rest of the salt into the skin, with no paste. Herbs on the skin would burn during roasting.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp fennel seeds · 8 cloves garlic · 4 tbsp rosemary · 2 tbsp sage · 1 tsp chilli flakes · 2 tsp black pepper · 1 pcs lemon · 3 tbsp olive oil
Paste on the meat side only, plain salt on the skin.Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight
Set the piece skin up, uncovered, on a rack in the fridge for at least 12 hours, with the loin alongside. This is the crucial step for crackling: dry skin blisters in the oven, damp skin steams and stays rubbery.
Ingredients: 2500 g pork belly · 1000 g pork loin · 45 g salt
Roll the belly around the loin and tie it
Lay the loin along the belly, roll tightly so the skin wraps the whole thing, and tie with string every 3 cm. Tightly, because a loose roll opens as you carve and the slices fall apart.
Ingredients: 2500 g pork belly · 1000 g pork loin · 45 g salt
String every 3 cm, the roll tight.Roast three and a half hours at 150°C
Heat the oven to 150°C. Roast the roll on a rack over a tray with the wine, 210 minutes at 150°C; when the liquid in the tray evaporates, add a little water so the fat doesn't burn. Low heat melts the collagen and renders the belly fat, which bastes the loin. Hotter, and the meat tightens before the fat has time to render. If you have a thermometer, the centre of the loin should now be about 65°C.
Ingredients: 250 ml white wine · 10 pcs bread rolls
Raise to 230°C for the crackling
Turn the oven up to 230°C for 25 minutes and watch it — the skin blisters and browns within minutes, and crisp turns to burnt very fast. It should crack under a knife.
Ingredients: 2500 g pork belly · 1000 g pork loin · 45 g salt
Rest for half an hour before carving
Rest for 30 minutes under loosely draped foil (not sealed — steam would soften the crackling). Carved straight away, porchetta bleeds juice and dries; rested, the slices stay moist and hold together.
Ingredients: 2500 g pork belly · 1000 g pork loin · 45 g salt
Carve with a serrated knife, serve in a roll
Carve with a serrated knife, cutting through the crackling first, into 1.5 cm slices. Serve in a roll, as at Italian markets — with a little of the pan juices and a pinch of salt, and no sauce at all.
Ingredients: 250 ml white wine · 10 pcs bread rolls
Before you start
Ask the butcher for a flat piece
The belly must be a single skin-on sheet of even thickness. Ask for the ribs removed and the thickness evened out — a moment's work for the butcher, and the roll comes out much easier and neater.
Fennel gives it character
Fennel seed is one of the most characteristic flavours of porchetta, especially in Umbria and Tuscany, where wild fennel is often used; the famous porchetta of Ariccia near Rome leans instead on garlic, rosemary and pepper. Toast the seeds in a dry pan before pounding — they smell stronger and sweeter.
Just as good cold
Cold porchetta, thinly sliced, is a classic Italian sandwich. It keeps four days in the fridge. The crackling softens — cut it off and reheat it separately for 5 minutes at 220°C and it comes back crisp.
