Chef Juliette
Sandwiches
Five classical fillings between bread buttered to every edge, cut into tidy rectangles and held under a light weight: a French buffet lesson in softness, proportion, and restraint.
Culinary Explorer
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Panino con Porchetta all'Umbra
Created by
The porchetta of Umbria, seasoned with wild fennel and enriched with a whisper of liver in the stuffing, sliced thick and pressed into a crusty roll. This is market-stall food at its most honest.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Italian
Comfort Food
1 hr
Active Time
4 hr cook•29 hr total
Yield12 sandwiches
In the hill towns of Umbria, porchetta vendors set up in the morning and sell until the pig is gone. There is no menu. There is pork, bread, and a knife. You point, they slice, you eat standing up. This is the origin of fast food, and it puts everything that came after to shame.
Umbrian porchetta differs from the famous version of Ariccia in one critical way: wild fennel instead of rosemary. The fronds, seeds, and pollen of finocchietto selvatico grow everywhere in the Umbrian hills, and they perfume the meat with an anise sweetness that rosemary cannot match. The old norcini, the pork butchers of Norcia, also added a small amount of the pig's liver to the stuffing. Not enough to taste distinctly, but enough to add depth and bind the aromatics to the fat.
Making porchetta at home requires commitment. You need a full day for seasoning, overnight resting, and hours of slow roasting. But the reward is a crackling skin shattered like glass and meat so tender it barely needs a knife. The sandwich is simply a delivery mechanism for this perfection.
Porchetta predates Rome itself, with Etruscan origins in central Italy. The Umbrian style, centered around Norcia (a town so famous for pork butchery that 'norcino' became the word for pork butcher throughout Italy), traditionally included liver and other variety meats in the stuffing. This practice distinguished it from the rosemary-dominant version that Ariccia popularized in the 20th century.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
skin-on pork belly
Quantity
5 pounds
boneless pork loin
Quantity
2 pounds
pork liver
Quantity
4 ounces
trimmed and minced fine
fennel pollen
Quantity
3 tablespoons
fennel seeds
Quantity
2 tablespoons
lightly crushed
wild fennel fronds
Quantity
1/4 cup
chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
8
minced to a paste
kosher salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons
black pepper
Quantity
1 tablespoon
freshly ground
red pepper flakes
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
lemon
Quantity
1
zested
crusty Italian rolls
Quantity
12
coarse salt
Quantity
for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| skin-on pork belly | 5 pounds |
| boneless pork loin | 2 pounds |
| pork livertrimmed and minced fine | 4 ounces |
| fennel pollen | 3 tablespoons |
| fennel seedslightly crushed | 2 tablespoons |
| wild fennel frondschopped | 1/4 cup |
| garlic clovesminced to a paste | 8 |
| kosher salt | 2 tablespoons |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1 tablespoon |
| red pepper flakes | 1/4 teaspoon |
| lemonzested | 1 |
| crusty Italian rolls | 12 |
| coarse salt | for finishing |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp knife for scoring
- •Butcher's twine
- •Roasting pan with rack
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Score the belly
Using a very sharp knife, score the skin of the pork belly in a crosshatch pattern, cutting through the skin and about one-quarter inch into the fat. The cuts should be spaced about one inch apart. This allows the fat to render and the skin to crisp. Turn the belly over.
- 2
Make the seasoning paste
In a small bowl, combine the fennel pollen, crushed fennel seeds, chopped fennel fronds, garlic paste, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and minced liver. Mix thoroughly with your hands. The liver should be distributed evenly throughout. This is your battuto, the flavor foundation of Umbrian porchetta.
The liver is traditional but optional. If you omit it, you will have good porchetta. If you include it, you will have Umbrian porchetta. There is a difference. - 3
Season the meat
Spread two-thirds of the seasoning paste over the flesh side of the pork belly, rubbing it into every crevice. Coat the pork loin with the remaining paste. Place the loin along the center of the belly, parallel to the shortest side.
- 4
Roll and tie
Roll the belly tightly around the loin, keeping the skin on the outside. The roll should be as compact as possible. Using butcher's twine, tie the roll at one-inch intervals, pulling firmly. The ties should be tight enough to hold the shape during roasting. Tuck and tie the ends.
If your belly is too short to wrap completely, this is not a disaster. The exposed loin will roast fine. The skin must face outward; this is not negotiable. - 5
Rest overnight
Place the tied roast on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet, skin side up. Refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours. This dries the skin, which is essential for proper crackling. Do not skip this step. Do not cover it.
- 6
Bring to room temperature
Remove the porchetta from the refrigerator two hours before roasting. A cold roast will not cook evenly. Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- 7
Roast low and slow
Place the porchetta on a rack in a roasting pan and roast at 325°F until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 145°F, approximately 3 to 3 1/2 hours. The internal temperature will rise during resting. Do not open the oven unnecessarily.
- 8
Blast for crackling
Increase the oven temperature to 500°F. Roast until the skin is deeply browned and blistered, 20 to 30 minutes more. Watch carefully. The difference between perfect crackling and burnt skin is perhaps five minutes. Sprinkle coarse salt over the skin during the last five minutes.
- 9
Rest the roast
Transfer the porchetta to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Do not slice it early. The juices need time to redistribute. A rested porchetta slices cleanly; an impatient one weeps.
- 10
Slice properly
Remove the twine. Slice the porchetta crosswise into rounds about one-half inch thick. Each slice should show the spiral of belly wrapped around loin, with a crown of crackling on top. Use a serrated knife for the skin if your blade struggles.
- 11
Assemble the sandwich
Split a crusty roll. Do not toast it. Do not add butter. Layer slices of porchetta generously, including pieces of the crackling. Some of the rendered fat and juices from the cutting board may moisten the bread. This is correct. Close the sandwich. Eat immediately, standing if possible.
Chef Tips
- •Fennel pollen is the superior seasoning, with a concentrated sweetness that ground seeds cannot match. Specialty grocers and Italian importers carry it. It is expensive because collecting it is tedious, but a small jar lasts for many roasts.
- •Ask your butcher for a skin-on pork belly of even thickness. Uneven belly makes rolling difficult and leads to uneven cooking. The loin should be roughly the same length as the width of the belly.
- •The porchetta vendors in Umbria roast whole pigs in wood-fired ovens. Your home oven will produce excellent results. Do not apologize for it.
- •Leftover porchetta keeps three days refrigerated. The crackling softens. You may briefly crisp slices in a hot pan, but accept that reheated porchetta is diminished porchetta.
Advance Preparation
- •The porchetta must be seasoned and refrigerated uncovered for 24 hours before roasting. This is built into the recipe, not optional.
- •You may season and tie the roast up to 48 hours ahead. Beyond this, the salt begins to cure the meat excessively.
- •Roasted porchetta can be held in a low oven (200°F) for up to one hour if your timing demands it, though freshly sliced is superior.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 270g)
Calories
1065 calories
Total Fat
78 g
Saturated Fat
28 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
50 g
Cholesterol
215 mg
Sodium
1870 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
44 g
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