(Almost) All about Porchetta (long)

Dale and Stogie,

My curiosity got the better of me when I read your posts in the "Butterflied & Tied Pork" thread, when you talked about the "porchetta." I wasn't familiar with porchetta and maybe others aren't as well. So here is some information and some recipes -- I'll bet they're not as good as your Nona's, Stogie!

Rita

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CONTENTS:
A few links to sites that discuss "Porchetta."
Recipe: Pork Loin alla Porchetta (Batali)
Recipe: Porchetta Italiana (with pork shoulder
Recipe: Duck, Porchetta Style
Link to recipe: Porchetta Roasted Trout
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http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/Italian-cookery/porchetta/porchetta-eng.htm

http://italianfood.about.com/library/rec/blr0511.htm?terms=porchetta

http://www.italiancookingandliving.com/guides/food/fest_mayday.html#Porchetta
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PORK LOIN ALLA PORCHETTA
From "Simple Italian Food" by Mario Batali

Makes 6-8 servings.

A whole pig, with its bones removed and cavity stuffed with sausage and fennel, roasted slowly, is known as porchetta and is served at great parties, as well as from street carts along the highways outside of Florence. It's a bit laborious though, so often a boneless loin stands in for the pig, which makes a lot more sense for both home kitchens and mine at Po. The leftovers make great sandwiches. Serve this with roasted potatoes and a simple salad.

4 pounds pork loin
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, fronds chopped and reserved, bulb thinly sliced
2 pounds ground pork shoulder
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 eggs, beaten
4 red onion, halved

Preheat the oven to 425*F

Butterfly the pork loin to an even one-inch thickness; you should have a flat piece of meat about 8 by 14 inches. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil until smoking. Add the onion and fennel bulb and saute until softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Add the ground pork, fennel seeds, black pepper, rosemary, and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture takes on a light color, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool and drain off any excess liquid.

Mix in the fennel fronds and eggs. Spread the mixture over the pork loin and roll up like a jellyroll. Tie with butcher's twine and place in a roasting pan on top of the halved onions.

Place in oven and roast for 75 minutes or until the interior temperature is 140*F.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then slice into one inch thick pieces and serve.

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PORCHETTA ITALIANA

Makes 6-8 servings.

This is a traditional Italian pork shoulder my mother taught me how to make. It is very flavorful as long as you put enough herbs and spices in it! The pork skin makes 'cracklin' and it is great! You can stuff the roast with many different spices and foods; variations to try are roasted red peppers, sausage, prosciutto, etc. Meat eaters love this dish!

Submitted by: Richard
Average Rating: ***** 3 Ratings 3 Reviews (see below)

6 pounds boned pork shoulder with skin intact, butterflied
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill weed
1/4 cup red wine
3 tablespoons browning sauce

1. Oil the shoulder roast inside and out and rub the salt and pepper into the flesh. Rub the garlic, rosemary, and dillweed into the flesh. Put shoulder into a leakproof container and pour the wine in and around the shoulder. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 3 days.

2. Remove the meat from the refrigerator and tie it at about 1 inch intervals to form an even roll. Bring the meat to room temperature for about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

3. Paint the roast with browning sauce and bake the roast until it has internal temperature of 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Estimate 30 minutes cooking time per pound. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let stand for 15 minutes before carving. The internal tem-perature should be 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) at this time. Serve.

Date Posted: 03/21/02 Reviewed by: STEPHEN L I MADE THIS FOR MY FAMILY AND THEY ALL LOVED IT. I'VE MADE IT TWO TIMES AND BOTH TIMES IT CAME OUT GREAT

Date Posted: 02/04/02 Reviewed by: COOKINGMUM We love this recipe. It is really flavorful, and we only used dried herbs. Also the cut of meat is not expensive. It is also easy and I just let it do it's own work sitting in the fridge. The marinating really makes this recipe. I halved the salt as was suggested. Caution, garlic lovers only.

Date Posted: 02/20/00 Reviewed by: ada CUT THE AMOUNT OF SALT IN HALF. This recipe is very close to the Porchetta that is made in the Abruzzi region of Italy, a specialty there.

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DUCK, PIG-STYLE
(Anatra in Porchetta)
Food Network, Recipe copyright Mario Batali, 2002.

Makes 6 servings.

1/2 pound ground veal
Liver from the duck, finely chopped - or substitute chicken liver
1/4 pound pancetta, finely chopped, plus 1/4 pound, sliced
1/4 cup bread crumbs, soaked in milk
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 branch rosemary leaves, finely chopped
Pinch thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
1 Pekin duck, cleaned and plucked
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
2 cups white wine

In a large bowl, combine the veal, duck liver, chopped pancetta, bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, and thyme, season with salt and pep-per, and mix well. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Season the duck inside and out with salt and pepper and stuff the cavity with the mixture, wrap the duck with the sliced pancetta, and truss the duck with butcher's twine.

In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add the onion, carrot, and celery, and cook until softened and golden brown. Add the duck and sear on all sides. Place the duck in the oven, cook for 10 minutes, then cover with the white wine.

Cook in the oven until the duck is sizzling and the stuffing is completely cooked through, about 1 hour. Serve hot.

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes Difficulty: Medium

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PORCHETTA ROASTED TROUT:

http://www.italiancookingandliving.com/guides/food/fest_april.html#Porchetta

Hi Rita!

Thanks for the links! Funny thing...I always use this spelling, porketta. You will get completely different search results.

I have never heard of porketta being a roast pig. Perhaps the difference in spelling is that meaningful?

Anyway, here are 2 old family recipes. Porketa is nothing more than highly seasoned pork. Both the loin and the butt can be used and each will turn out a real great sammich. These recipes are nothing more than the seasoning mix used on the pork.

Enjoy!!

Stogie
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From my Aunt.........

Italian Porketta Sandwiches

2-3 pound(s) Pork roast, boneless
2 teaspoon(s) Red pepper, crushed
2 teaspoon(s) Garlic powder
3 teaspoon(s) Salt
1 teaspoon Onion powder
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Thyme, dried
3 large Bay leaf(s)
Olive oil

PREPARATION:
Grind and combine all spices except bay leaves. Score deeply and coat roast with Olive oil.
Rub spices in and wrap in plastic wrap. Marinate in refrigerator for 1-2 days. 2 days is best.

Place in roasting pan with NO additional liquid. Add 3 bay leafs on top of roast. Cook at low heat until internal meat temp reaches 200*F. At 225*F it will take 2 hours/pound.

Pull apart and serve on crusty rolls.

Traditionally, these were left to cool overnight and served the following day.
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From Nona.......the cooking is a bit unconventional, but this is the recipe she brought over from Italy.

"Old Country" Porketta Sandwiches

5 pound Pork Loin
2 teaspoon(s) Salt
2 teaspoon(s) Black pepper, coarsely ground
2 teaspoon(s) Garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) Onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) Dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) Paprika
1 teaspoon Sage, dried
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
Olive oil

PREPARATION:
Coat loin with olive oil. Score loin in several places cutting through 1/2 of the thickness. Combine all spices and apply liberally to loin making sure to rub into score marks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 overnights.

Add 1 cup of water to a roasting pan and place loin in water. Water should just cover the bottom of the roasting pan and come up a fraction of an inch on the meat. A crockpot would work for this as well.

Slow roast for the entire day. Baste as often as possible.

Remove loin and reserve the juices still in the crock. Pull the meat apart in small chunks. The meat will appear fairly dry but should pull apart easily. Strain the juice to get rid of any fat chunks. Once the sammich is made, top with these juices. These taste best when served the following day on nice hard rolls.

Wow, Stogie! MANY thanks for sharing your family recipes...there's an ingredient in both the recipes that isn't mentioned, but is understood.....One or more dashes of love. I'll have to put the ingredients on my shopping list tomorrow and will let you know when I've made them.

I didn't realize that the spelling was different until you pointed that out. I just copied from the Mario Batali book and a Jeff Smith (Frugal Gourmet, among other aka's) book on Italian cooking. I'll have to do a "porketta" search and see what I come up with. Sounds like it may be an Americanized pronunciation?

All the best,
Rita

Rita,
Like Stogie said, the taste of Porkchetta may not fly in a BBQ competition, but it is sure good eating. I've copied these recipes into my files and will need to try them sometime later this year.

Thanks
Dale

Dale, don't wait to make the Porketta.

Stogie,
We had our first Porketta sammiches for dinner tonight. I just knew that my pork loin would turn out dry, but it wasn't -- it was GREAT! And it pulled easily, too. I did Nona's (the second recipe) in the crockpot (outside on my deck) just to keep the kitchen cool. It's been in the 90's for the last few days. My 5-pound roast took about 9 or 9 1/2 hours on a low heat setting.

That recipe is a keeper for sure. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I used chicken broth instead of water, otherwise, I didn't change a thing.

Stogie, is your aunt's recipe as good as your Nona's? I assume she uses the pork loin as well? Do you freeze the meat WITH the juices or separately? I have lots left, thank goodness.

I made a side of coleslaw and was tempted to add it to the sandwich (Eastern North Italian style?), but didn't want Nona to put a hex on me for varying from the tradition! Tradition rules!

Thanks for sharing,
Rita

Hi Rita!

I really appreciate you trying the recipe!! So glad you liked it!

As to the cole slaw...never seen it on a porketta sammich, but who knows, a new twist perhaps!

I too was amazed that a pork loin could be slow cooked that long and still come out edible.

Both recipes are so good...a few years ago, we had a taste test with the family members and tried to choose the better one, we came up with a draw!

My aunt used pork butt in her recipe. She would trim it of all external fat, then slice into large, 3-4", "steaks" and coat both sides of those and slow cook. One of the drawbacks of this method is the huge amount of fat that will accumulate in the roasting pan. It will need to be emptied a few times.

Using a whole butt will not work as the seasonings just don't penetrate that large of a roast. However, maybe deeply scoring and then tying it back together would work.

Before freezing, I would dump any remaining juice into the meat, let it absorb for a few minutes and freeze away. I have also thought of using some of the pork stock that is on the market, but don't think I would use it enough in my other cooking to warrant a purchase.

Thanks again Rita!!