Sorta Porchetta

One of my all-time favorite street foods in San Francisco is
Roli Roti’s famous porchetta sandwich, served at the Ferry Plaza Farmers
Market. For those of you not familiar with the perfection that is the porchetta, it’s a loin,
and possibly other cuts of heavily seasoned pig parts, wrapped inside a pork
belly, which is then roasted until the inside is tender, and the outside is
crispy and crackling.

It’s then sliced and served on a crusty roll with salsa
verde.


It’s insanely good, and something I’ve always wanted to try doing at
home. Of course, a real porchetta feeds like 20 people, so I wanted a
version that would be better suited for a smaller group. 

I decided to try using
a small pork shoulder roast. The plan was to mimic the same flavors, but cook
it more like pork loin, instead of the usual fork tender, falling apart state
we associate with this cut. Pulled pork was not what I was after here.


It worked wonderfully, although you do need to slice it nice and
thin. We’re only cooking this to 145 F. which is not high enough a
temperature to break down all that connective tissue. All in all, I thought it
was a very successful experiment, especially when you consider how much we
scaled this down. 

What it didn’t feature however, was that crispy skin, also
known as “the best part.” I wish I’d thought of it before I finished the video, but
what I should have done was fried up some diced pancetta (un-smoked Italian
bacon) until it was perfectly crispy, and topped the sandwich with that! That
would have put this already fine faux-porchetta over the top! I hope
you give this a try soon. Enjoy!



Ingredients for 4 very large portions:
2 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder roast, butterflied open,
and slashes made all over the connective tissues
olive oil as needed
1 tbsp kosher salt (2 tsp for inside, and 1 for out)
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp chopped sage leaves
2 tbsp chopped rosemary
6 cloves minced garlic
zest from a large orange
2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
– Stuff, tie, salt, and refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours
– Roast at 450 F. for 15 minutes
– Reduce heat to 250 F. and roast another hour, or until an
internal temp of 145 F.

For the vinegar sauce:
1/2 anchovy fillet
1 tsp hot chili flakes or to taste

1/4 cup white wine vinegar


1/4 cup freshly chopped Italian parsley


Bonus How to Butterfly Meat for Rolling Video! 

 


This recipe has already been read 1495 times!

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