Homestyle Porchetta

Porchetta ~ highly seasoned deboned stuffed, rolled, and roasted whole pig ~ is a marketplace staple in central Italy. Its origins are believed to date back to the Roman (or even pre-Roman) era. Shops, stands, and trucks selling this beloved street food are sprinkled throughout Lazio, the region that includes Rome; Umbria; and Abruzzo; and even into Le Marche. You can buy it by the kilo and bring it home, or have it stuffed inside a roll and enjoy it on the spot.

Ariccia, one of the Castelli Romani ~ the hilltop towns on the outskirts of Rome ~ is sort of a ground-zero for porchetta. The Castelli Romani were once a summer destination for Roman nobility wanting to escape the city heat (Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer home, is located here), and what better way to while away those long, languid days than with large banquets featuring spit-roasted pig? Ariccia is dotted with porchetta shops; there’s a low street that slinks beneath a bridge that is lined with taverns that serve the rosemary-spiced roast, along with other porky delights and local wine (Frascati is also nearby).

Umbria, which borders Lazio, is famous for a variety of pig products. It is the land of norcini (the title comes from the Umbrian town of Norcia), experts in the art of pig butchery and pork curing. A norcino’s job was to travel from farm to farm during fall and winter plying his singular trade. Few still practice the traveling trade, but across the region you will find shops known as norcinerie, run by pig butchers, where you can buy a selection of salumi (sausages, pancetta, and so on) as well as Umbrian-style porchetta, typically seasoned with wild fennel.

Abruzzo’s porchetta trade is concentrated in the northern Teramo province, though it extends beyond. This is the porchetta I grew up with, redolent with garlic and rosemary. Vendors are a common sight at outdoor markets and by parked the side of the road. Some of the trucks they tool around in (which predate modern food trucks by many decades) are…impressive. There is one that I patronize regularly at the semi-weekly market in Sulmona. The freshly roasted, still warm porchetta is displayed on one end of a long counter, with someone standing by to slice it to order. A selection of sides (roast potatoes and such) also awaits behind glass, and beyond that, at the other end of the vehicle, a working rotisserie threaded with chickens slowly rotates over a wood fire. In the back of the truck there’s a compartment that holds logs for feeding the fire. It’s a beast of a machine, and a beauty.

A few years ago, I developed what I call “homestyle” porchetta, using boned pork shoulder. I butterfly the meat, season it liberally with herbs and spices, roll and tie it, and roast it in the oven at a low temperature for three or four hours. There are fancier restaurant/home cook versions that use a center-cut loin wrapped in slab pancetta. But, frankly, I like the simplicity of using the single piece of pork, plenty rich on its own without the need for an extra layer of pork belly.

I serve this porchetta on Thanksgiving, sometimes on its own, sometimes alongside a roast turkey or, as I’ve done in the last couple of years, a stuffed turkey breast. It is easy to make; fail-proof, I would say. And the big bonus, of course, is that you can use the leftovers to make delicious porchetta sandwiches.

HOMESTYLE PORCHETTA
I have two versions of porchetta. One uses a blended “porchetta salt” that I created for my book Preserving Italy; the recipe here, which is only slightly different, is from my book Williams-Sonoma Rustic Italian.

Serves 8 or more

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons fennel seeds, toasted (see NOTE)
3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons whole peppercorns
1 boneless pork shoulder, abut 3 1/2 pounds (1.75 kg), butterflied by the butcher to lay flat
4 tablespoons (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, plus a few branches for garnish
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine the fennel seeds, salt, and peppercorns in the bowl of a mini food processor or spice grinder and grind somewhat finely ~ some texture is nice but it shouldn’t be too coarse.

2. Lay the pork open on a cutting board. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the meat and rub it in to coat the surface. Sprinkle half the fennel mixture over the pork, then sprinkle the garlic, minced rosemary and lemon zest on top. Spread the ground spices evenly over the meat’s surface. Roll up the pork and tie it securely with kitchen string at 1-inc (2.5 cm) intervals. Rub the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over the outside of the pork and coat with the remaining fennel mixture. Place the pork on a rack set inside a roasting pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.

3. Remove the porchetta from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Heat the oven to 275° F (135° C). Roast the porchetta, uncovered, until the top is deeply browned, the meat is fork-tender throughout, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160° - 170° F (71° - 77° C), about 3 1/2 hours. If the roast seems to be cooking too slowly, you can bump up the heat a bit to 300° F (150° C). Remove the porchetta from the oven, tent with aluminum foil, and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. Remove the kitchen string, slice the roast thinly or thickly ~ however you prefer ~ and transfer the slices to a serving platter. Spoon the pan juices on top and garnish with rosemary sprigs.

NOTE: To toast fennel seeds, put them in a small skillet and set it over medium to medium-high heat. Toast, shaking the pan to move the seeds about, for a couple of minutes, until they are fragrant and have turned a shade or two darker.