At the Table of La Fortezza: Modesto’s Porchetta

I’m happy to share a new recipe from At the Table of La Foretzza, Modesto’s Porchetta. Porchetta is a savory, boneless pork roast, and this particular porchetta recipe is from a butcher in our tiny village of Fivizzano - Modesto Bertocchi. His butcher shop is the quintessential Italian butcher shop, with beautifully displayed cuts of meat in the display case with a pink light to showcase the meat. Modesto opened this butcher shop twenty-five years earlier under the guidance of his father, who had a butcher shop during World War II in Sassalbo, a small mountain village. Modesto specializes in the processing of salami that he sells throughout Lunigiana. I have been patronizing his shop since that first visit. Not only do I love his bistecca, but his porchetta, a stuffed pork roll made with fatback and stuffed with a variety of herbs and garlic, is fantastic. I usually make porchetta myself, but one day we were running behind preparing a dinner party and I needed something quickly. I ordered his porchetta, and it was a genius decision! I picked it up at the shop around six o’clock and served it at room temperature with roasted potatoes.

When I asked him to share this recipe, Modesto was excited to do so, but shy about giving it to me. So I asked my friend Federica, who knows him well, to ask him questions about how he made it. The most important thing is that the pork belly is trimmed properly, about ¾ inch thick, so it will roll easily and cook more evenly. Dried juniper berries add a bright freshness—they are somewhat like peppercorns. Porchetta leftovers make fantastic sandwiches on warm focaccia. Cook alongside us as we make Modesto’s Porchetta in this week’s video.

Modesto’s Porchetta

Serves 10

Ingredients:

• (5- to 6-pound) fresh pork belly, trimmed into a 12 by 18-inch rectangle

• 1 (2 to 3-pound) boneless, center cut pork loin

• 3 cloves garlic 

• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

• 1 fresh bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon dried juniper berries 

• 1 tablespoon salt, divided

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• Juice of 1 lemon

Preparation:

• Set the pork belly skin side down on a clean work surface. Using a knife, score the flesh in a checker- board pattern, ⅓ inch deep. This step ensures the roast will cook evenly. Flip the pork skin side up and, with a sharp paring knife, poke shallow holes through the skin, all over the belly. Pound the pork loin to a ½ - to ¾ inch thickness

• In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse together the garlic, rosemary, sage, bay leaf, juniper berries, 1 teaspoon salt, the pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice until the herb mixture forms a paste

• Using the jagged edge of a meat mallet, pound the belly skin all over for 3 minutes to tenderize it; this will help crisp the skin when roasted. Flip over and season the belly and the flattened loin with the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Place the loin lengthwise down the center of the checkerboard side of the belly. Spread the herb paste evenly on top of the loin

• To form the porchetta log, start at the short end, and use both hands to roll the belly and loin away from you around the herb paste to form a log

• Secure the roll tightly with kitchen twine in at least 4 places. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 24 hours

• About 2 hours before roasting, take the por-chetta out of the refrigerator and remove the plas-tic wrap. Let it sit on the counter to come to room temperature

• Preheat the oven to 500°F

• Place the porchetta on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, reduce the heat to 325°F and continue roasting for 2 hours, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat reads 145°F. Rotate the pan and turn the porchetta occasionally to cook evenly. If the skin is not a deep brown color and crispy after this time, return the oven to 500°F and roast it for an additional 10 minutes

• Let the porchetta rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove the twine and, using a serrated knife, cut it into ½-inch-thick slices. Serve warm or at room temperature