Pork Belly Stuffed Porchetta
This pork belly porchetta is a show-stopping roast featuring tender, herb-stuffed pork wrapped in golden crackling.
With a porchetta cooking time of just under 2 hours, this delicious pork belly is cooked to perfection to ensure an extra crispy crackling.
A fragrant paste of toasted fennel, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, chilli and lemon is rubbed through the meat before rolling and roasting until juicy inside and irresistibly crisp outside.
Perfect for sharing, slice and serve with roasted apples and potatoes for a hearty, flavour-packed centrepiece.
Ingredients
- 2 kg piece pork belly (see notes)
- 1 ½ tablespoons fennel seeds
- 6 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 10 large fresh sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil + extra 2 teaspoons for rubbing pork rind
- 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes, for rubbing into pork
- Roasted apples and potatoes, to serve
Method
Place the pork belly onto a board. Using a sharp knife, score the pork rind at 1cm intervals. Turn pork over and using a small knife, prick 20 small holes into the meat (this helps infuse the flavours).
Preheat oven to 240°C. Heat a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add fennel seeds and roast until fragrant. Transfer to a mortar and pestle or food processor. Add garlic, salt, herbs, chilli flakes, lemon rind and ¼ cup oil. Pound or pulse until it forms a rough paste.
Evenly rub herb paste over the meat-side of the pork. Tightly roll the pork from the longest side and tie at 2cm intervals to form a roll.
Rub pork rind with oil then liberally rub with sea salt. Place the stuffed porchetta on a rack in a large roasting pan. Roast for 40 minutes or until skin is golden and crackled. Reduce heat to 160°C and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes or until pork is just cooked through. Remove and rest for 10 minutes. Remove string. Serve pork with roasted apples and potatoes.
Notes
For extra crisp crackling, the day before you cook the pork, pat the rind dry with paper towel, place pork rind-side up, uncovered on a rack on a tray in the fridge and leave it overnight. Stand for 20 minutes at room temperature and dry with paper towel before roasting a porchetta.
FAQs
What is porchetta?
Porchetta is a traditional Italian pork roast made from seasoned pork belly that is rolled and slow-roasted until tender with crispy crackling.
What is the ideal porchetta cooking time?
Porchetta cooking time depends on the size and oven temperature, this recipe takes about 2 hours 10 mins.
What is the best method for roasting a porchetta?
The best method for roasting a porchetta is to start at a high temperature to let the skin get crispy, then reduce the heat and cook slowly until the meat is tender and juicy.
Do you need to rest porchetta after roasting
Yes, resting for 10 minutes helps the juices to settle and makes carving much easier.
Australian Pork
