Ciao Chow Linda

The full recipe is from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt/Serious Eats

Pork Belly Porchetta

Ingredients

• 1 whole boneless, rind-on pork belly, about 12 to 15 pounds (5.4 to 6.8kg)

• Recipe adapted from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt/Serious Eats

• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

• 3 tablespoons whole fennel seeds

• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary

• 12 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grate

• grated rind of one lemon

• Kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions

1. Place pork belly skin-side down on a large cutting board.

2. Using a sharp chef’s knife, score flesh at an angle using strokes about 1-inch apart.

3. Rotate knife 90 degrees and repeat to create a diamond pattern in the flesh.

4. Toast peppercorns and fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned and aromatic, about 2 minutes. (I forgot this step and skipped it.)

5. Transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until roughly crushed, along with the rosemary, red pepper and lemon peel.

6. Place the spices, herbs and lemon peel in a small bowl and add the minced garlic.

7. Season pork liberally with salt then sprinkle with the spice mixtures.

8. Use your hands to rub the mixture deeply into the cracks and crevices in the meat.

9. Roll belly into a tight log and push to top of cutting board, seam-side down.

10. Wrap kitchen twine tightly around the pork.

11. Combine 2 tablespoons kosher salt with 2 teaspoons baking powder. Rub mixture over entire surface of pork.

12. If roast is too large and unwieldy, carefully slice in half with a sharp chef’s knife. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days. If desired, porchetta can also be frozen at this point for future use

13. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).

14. Place pork in a V-rack set in a large roasting pan, or if cooking both halves at the same time, on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.

15. Place roasting pan in oven and roast until internal temperature of pork reaches 160°F (71°C), about 2 hours, basting with pan drippings every half hour.

16. Continue roasting until a knife or skewer inserted into the pork shows very little resistance asides from the outer layer of skin, about 2 hours longer.

17. (I lowered the temperature to 250 and roasted for 3 hours longer)

18. Increase oven temperature to 500°F (260°C) and continue roasting until completely crisp and blistered, about 20 to 30 minutes longer.

19. (After about 10 minutes with the oven at 500 degrees, the skin was starting to burn, so I lowered the temperature to 400 degrees and finished roasting for 20 more minutes.

20. Alternatively, you can remove the roast from the oven and tent with foil for up to 2 hours before finishing it in a preheated 500°F oven.

21. Tent with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes (I rested it for 1/2 hour, which gave me time to bake popovers and finish the mashed potatoes and other vegetables.)

22. Slice with a serrated knife into 1-inch thick disks and serve.