I did (not authentic 'cos I don’t like fennel seeds) porcetta at the weekend for my lot and my wife’s brother’s family. A couple of notes: 1. that skin/crackling was an absolute flavour bomb, 2. the leftovers were disappointingly scant.
I did (not authentic 'cos I don’t like fennel seeds) porcetta at the weekend for my lot and my wife’s brother’s family. A couple of notes: 1. that skin/crackling was an absolute flavour bomb, 2. the leftovers were disappointingly scant.
I intend to do my Christmas porchetta on my new rotisserie this year. I hope mine looks half and good.
A lot of the effort is in the preparation. I got some great quality pork belly and a thin loin piece from a really good, local, farm shop. I took off the ribs, trimmed it, and rolled it myself. The rolling and tying took a couple of goes before I was happy with it, but it was worth it. Then it was mostly just time and judiciously applied heat!
Edit to add: a couple more thoughts! I butterflied the belly so it opened like a book. Then, using mustard as a binder I seasoned the meat and the underside of the skin with salt, pepper and garlic and just a hint of smoked paprika. Then I salted the skin and roughly rolled it and let it airdry in the fridge for about 36 hours. I also made some stuffing with crushed pinenuts, parsley, onion, apple, and chorizo which I cooled and then I layered on the stuffing and did the proper roll and tie about an hour before it went on the spit.
Damn, that’s a labor of love
It’s a fair amount of work but you can do most of it a day or more in advance so it can be a relaxed cook on the actual day.