Italian Porchetta

Italian Porchetta

If you’re after a feast of a meal that not only looks spectacular but tastes it too… then this recipe is for you! Kindly sent to us by our friend Glyn Edmunds over at @thecookingcobbler, this fabulous recipe is super easy to follow and gives great results.

Please do pop him a follow, he shares plenty of his wonderful cooking over on his Instagram.

Thanks again Glyn!

You will need:

A large pork loin with the belly still attached and deboned.

A jar of pesto (homemade or store bought)

2 x lemons

A good bunch of sage leaves

Olive oil

2 x bulbs of garlic

3 x large carrots

Small bunch of rosemary

Small bunch of thyme

3 x large onions

For the seasoning:

Sea salt

Coarse black pepper

Fennel seeds

Chilli flakes

Granulated garlic

Assorted dry Italian herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil, sage and oregano)

The recipe:

Make sure you set your oven to 220°c or gas mark 7 and pre heat.

Take a sharp knife and slice a pocket into the pork loin without going all the way through it, then season the whole belly and loin with the above seasoning (or you can just use salt and pepper if you want to keep it simple).

Next spread the pesto all over the inside of the belly and loin including the pocket you cut into the loin. Line up your sage leaves all the way along the belly and inside the loin pocket, then grate over the zest of the two lemons and drizzle with olive oil.

Here’s a tip – I also stuffed a large knob of butter Inside the loin at this stage, this just helps to guarantee that the loin didn’t dry out during the long cook.

So, that’s the stuffing done! Next, roll the loin towards the belly. Make sure you tie it up good and tight to keep everything together, then drizzle with olive oil and season the skin with the same dry seasoning – or just salt if you prefer.

Make a bed (trivet) of vegetables using the onions, carrots, garlic bulbs. Squeeze the two lemons over the veg, then chuck them in too for good measure! You can also use parsnips, pumpkin, celery, or swede in your trivet – so you can really pick your favourites!

Pop the pork on top of the veg and roast on high for one hour. When the hour is up, take it out of the oven and add your choice of liquid to the tray (can be wine, water, beer, whatever you’d prefer) and turn the oven down to 140°c or gas mark 1 or 2 then leave to slowly roast for 3 to 6 hours depending on the size of the joint.

Remove from the oven and rest for at least one hour before carving.

I served mine with roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy – but it’s also amazing with crusty bread and makes the best pork sandwiches in the world!