Baked porchetta, from festivals to your home

Tricks and tips for preparing an excellent baked porchetta, using different combinations of seasonings, and for preserving it for a long time.

Porchetta is the queen of village festivals and is one of those dishes that, albeit with some minimal differences, brings together all of Italy. The idea of ​​preparing baked porchetta was born from the desire to make this famous recipe at home and not necessarily have to wait for some important occasion to enjoy it.

Contrary to what you may think, the preparation of porchetta is quite simple . Just a few ingredients including spices and two cuts of meat, pork belly with rind and a leaner cut such as loin or pork shoulder to obtain an amazing result. If you don't believe it, our recipe will show you.

Preparation of porchetta with the original recipe

1. Start by placing the bacon with the rind facing the cutting board.
2. Prepare your aromatic mixture with spices (add 30 grams of salt and 4-5 grams of ground black pepper , minced garlic to taste and rosemary ) and distribute it over the bacon.
3. Place the pork loin in the center. Roll up tightly and secure with several turns of kitchen twine .
4. Massage the entire rind with salt to make it crispier once cooked, then wrap it in a sheet of foil.
5. Place the porchetta on the oven rack, in the centre, and immediately underneath place the dripping pan with the water, white wine , a grated nutmeg, two sprigs of rosemary and two of oregano .
6. The cooking of the porchetta takes place in two distinct phases: the first at 220°C for one hour in static mode , the second, this time without foil, again at 200°C in a ventilated oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

For perfect cooking of the porchetta, calculate one hour for each kilogram of meat . Furthermore, during the entire time the porchetta is in the oven, you must always add liquids to the pan so that they evaporate and keep the meat soft and juicy.

Alternatively, you can prepare the rabbit in porchetta , simpler and quicker but equally delicious. Do you love barbecues? Our pork ribs are just waiting to be tried!

Seasoning for porchetta

We wanted to dedicate a separate "chapter" to the seasoning for porchetta because it is essentially the only aspect that differentiates the various recipes. Two neighboring regions are competing for the "original" version: Lazio and Tuscany.

The most famous recipe for porchetta from Lazio is that of Ariccia . If you wish to flavor the meat following this recipe then prepare a mixture consisting of 30 grams of salt and 4-5 grams of ground black pepper , minced garlic to taste and rosemary .

Tuscan porchetta , on the other hand, is very similar to the above recipe, but fennel is used instead of rosemary, sometimes fresh or sometimes in the form of fennel seeds.

Some versions then combine a grated nutmeg and grated lemon zest, to give the recipe a truly particular citrus note. In short, you have understood that even for a simple recipe there is no shortage of discussion!