lucianas porchetta

Pork

Luciana's Porchetta

I may have mentioned Luciana, the chef I work with, I watch her very closely, her porchetta is fabulous, this is my twist or my interpretation of her recipe, since I have absolutely no idea what really goes in her recipe. This is rather sublime with lovely rich sustainable heirloom pork, but equally wonderful with pork from the butcher, butcher not supermarket plastic wrap, though I've gone that route as well. This is definitely one of the those get to know your butcher times ( though I think you should always get to know your butcher, they are a world of knowledge, and often super nice, and flirty in a good way).

Ingredients

6 pounds butterflied pork shoulder
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 1/2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
5 garlic cloves, mashed up
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 bay leaves
1 piece pork skin, large enough to cover the shoulder, like a pashmina, or 9 thin slices pancetta
1/2 cup good red wine vinegar

Directions

Toast spices and salt in small heavy bottom pan till fragrant, and crush in mortar and pestle or mini chop. It should be rather coarse, not a powder. I am not ashamed to admit I use a magic bullet blender that I bought on TV; it grinds beautifully and makes smoothies.
Mix spices with chopped rosemary, orange zest and mashed up garlic, add olive oil till it makes a paste
Slather the pork in the spice mix, and place in a baggie with the bay leaves over night or up to 3 days; remember to smoosh it around when you are in the fridge
Preheat oven to 325° F; bring pork to room temperature.
Take pork out of baggie, turn baggie inside out and rub all the spice paste over the inside of the pork skin
Roll pork into a cylindrical shape, tie with butcher twine at 1" intervals, stick the bay leaves under the middle strings, and lay skin over top (if using pancetta, lay the slices across the top like fish scales).
Place in a roasting pan with a rack, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 150. remove and let sit until goes to @ 160. Depending on your oven you may need to rotate it every so often. It should take 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
Remove skin, scrape off the fat (if you want) and cut into strips with a sharp set of shears (say that 4 times fast), to serve. (The pancetta will crisp, so simply break it into small pieces for serving alongside the porchetta.)
Deglaze pan with vinegar. Don't reduce too much -- just enough to get rid of some off the sharpness (this is more like a porky vinaigrette).
To serve slice into 1/4" slices, add a strip of skin (or pancetta) to each plate (or pile atop if serving en masse on a platter) and drizzle with sauce.
Serve with garlicky bitter greens and roasted or mashed potatoes, or escarole & white beans. The next day make Philly Style Roast Pork Sandwiches by piling warm pork & greens on a crusty seeded long roll with thin slices of sharp aged provolone.

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lucianas porchetta