Porchetta Recipe

Makes 6 servings
Ingredient:
  • 3 3/4 to 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (skin-on, not tied)
  • 20 fresh sage leaves
  • leafy sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
  • leafy sprigs rosemary, stemmed
  • garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
  • tablespoons fennel pollen (can sub ground fennel seed, but it is different)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons medium coarse sea salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
  • tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • cup dry red or white wine
Direction:
  1. Heat oven to 250° F.
  2. With a sharp knife, score pork skin in a crosshatch diamond pattern, making 1/8-inch-deep cuts, about 1 inch apart.
  3. Finely chop thyme, sage, rosemary, and garlic together (you can do this by pulsing in a food processor, or by hand). Place mixture in a small bowl, add fennel pollen, salt, and pepper, and stir together well.
  4. Lay the pork flat, unrolling it if needed. With a paring knife, make about 10 incisions (about 1/2-inch deep) all over the pork and stuff with about 1/3 of the herb mixture. Tie pork with kitchen twine, brush the oil over the skin, and rub all over with the remaining herb mixture.
  5. Set pork in a roasting pan, fat-side up. Roast for 2 hours. Pour the wine over the pork and baste with the wine and accumulated juices. Continue roasting, basting once every hour, until the skin is well browned and the meat is spoon-tender, 4 to 6 hours more (internal temperature will be 170° F to 180° F). Remove from oven. Let meat rest 15 minutes before slicing and serving.