📋 Porchetta Romana Recipe

porchetta romana on a cutting board cut into thin slices

Porchetta Romana is a large cut of pork (almost half), wrapped in its rind and flavoured with herbs. It was cooked on a wooden fire, cut in slices and served in a crusty Panino/Rosetta. You can make it at home without having to buy the entire pig like they do in Rome.

Course Sandwich

Cuisine Italian

Keyword porchetta romana, roasted pork, roman pork

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 15

Servings people

Calories 431kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

4 lb pork belly and pork tenderloin
3 peeled garlic cloves
2 shallots minced
1 sprig fresh chives chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon fennel pollen alternatively fennel seed ground in a spice grinder
2 sprig fresh rosemary leaves finely chopped
1 cup olive oil
1 cup dry white wine (for basting)
1 fistful kosher salt
White pepper
8 crusty Italian sandwich rolls

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Create the Herb & Spice Rub

Remove the fresh rosemary leaves from their stems and peel the garlic cloves.
In a spice blender or small food processor, combine the rosemary leaves, garlic cloves, fennel pollen (or ground fennel seeds), and ground white pepper.
Blend until all ingredients are finely minced and well combined, forming a fragrant, slightly moist mixture.
Transfer this blended herb and spice mixture to a bowl. Add your kosher salt to the bowl and mix thoroughly. This is your herb rub.

Prepare the Pork Belly

Lay the pork belly skin-side down on your work surface.
With a sharp knife, carefully cut the pork belly lengthwise through the meat, stopping before you cut all the way through one of the long edges. Open it up like a book to create one long, flat base of meat.

Season and Assemble

Spread the prepared herb rub evenly and generously over the entire meat side (the opened-up surface) of the pork belly.
Place the pork tenderloin along one of the longer edges of the herb-rubbed pork belly.
Carefully and tightly roll the pork belly around the tenderloin, encasing it completely, to form a compact cylindrical log. The skin should be on the outside.

Tie the Porchetta

Using kitchen twine, tie the rolled porchetta securely at 1 to 1.5-inch intervals along its length.
Start from one end and work your way to the other, ensuring the roll is tight and will hold its shape during cooking.
You can also run a piece of twine lengthwise and loop it under the crosswise ties for extra security.
Rub additional kosher salt onto the exterior skin at this stage.

Cooking

Preheat your oven to a high temperature: 240-250°C (465-480°F).
Lightly grease a roasting pan with a thin layer of olive oil
Place the tied porchetta into the prepared roasting pan, skin facing upward
Roast at a high temperature (240-250°C / 465-480°F) for 20-30 minutes.
After the initial high-heat roast, carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven.
Turn it around and pour the white wine over the porchetta.
Reduce the oven temperature to 175-180°C (350°F).
Return the porchetta to the oven.
Continue to roast at the lower temperature, basting the white wine juices from the pan every 25-30 minutes.
Start checking the internal temperature after about 45 minutes at the lower heat. Insert an instant-read meat thermometer into the very center of the pork tenderloin.
You are aiming for an internal temperature of 63-65°C (145-150°F) for a juicy and safely cooked tenderloin. The pork belly should also be tender.

Resting

Once the porchetta is cooked and the skin is satisfactorily crispy, remove form the oven
Cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Do not wrap it tightly, as this will steam the skin and make it lose its crispness.
Let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes. This allows the muscle fibers to relax and the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, resulting in a much more tender and flavorful porchetta.

Serving

Carefully remove and discard all the kitchen twine.
Using your meat slicer is ideal for achieving the desired thinness. Set it to produce thin slices, similar to how you would slice cured ham but perhaps just a fraction thicker, aiming for slices approximately 2-4 mm thick (roughly 1/16 to just over ⅛ inch).
If you don't have a meat slicer, use a very sharp carving knife or a serrated knife (which can be helpful for cutting through the crispy skin). Aim for the thinnest slices you can manage; they may naturally be a bit thicker than with a slicer, and that's perfectly fine. The goal is still to have manageable, flavorful pieces.
It can be served warm or at room temperature. For an extra layer of flavor and moisture, pour over some of the rich juices left in the roasting pan

Video

Notes

As I do not like fennel, in this recipe I used Thyme instead. For a customized experience, feel free to use herbs and spices you like
Optional, but recommended: ensure the skin is very dry and well-salted is key for crisping.
If you've refrigerated the tied porchetta after preparing it, let it sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes before cooking.
This initial blast of heat is crucial for starting the fat rendering process and helping the pork belly skin to begin crisping. Keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn't burn.
The total roasting time after reducing the heat will vary depending on the thickness of your porchetta, but anticipate approximately 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes for 4lb - 2 kg of meat

Nutrition