How to Make the Juiciest Italian Porchetta at Home

By Vincenzo's Plate · 480 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Optionally, lightly coat the pork belly with a small splash of whisky.
2. Salt the pork belly evenly, then put the lean pork fillet in the centre and season it with a little more salt.
3. Add granulated garlic as you like, then spread the dried herbs edge to edge.
4. Strip the rosemary leaves from the stems and scatter them over the top with plenty of fennel leaves (no hard stems), then add black pepper to taste.
5. Roll the meat around an aluminium rod into a tight cylinder, then tie it tightly with butcher's string, working from the middle outwards, until fully closed. Trim extra string.
6. Sew the opening shut with the trussing needle and tie strings from top to bottom and around the roll to secure it.
7. If cooking later, wrap in baking paper and then plastic wrap and refrigerate until roasting; otherwise continue straight away.
8. Set a rack in a deep baking tray and place the porchetta on it, seam side down, with the rod still inside.
9. Pour four bottles of beer into the tray.
10. Roast on the bottom rack of a conventional electric oven: 1 hour at 220°C (430°F), 1 hour at 210°C (410°F), then 1 hour at 200°C (390°F).
11. Remove the rod, pour two glasses of water over the top, then roast 30 minutes at 250°C (480°F) to blister and crisp the skin.
12. If the crust has not blistered after 30 minutes, pour in another glass of water and roast a little longer until the skin is golden and crunchy.

Summarized from Vincenzo's Plate's video. Watch it for the details.

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