Porchetta with salsa verde
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- + Resting
- Easy
- Serves 4 + leftovers
Ingredients
- 3kg pork belly, skin-on and scored (ask your butcher to remove the bones and butterfly the meat)
- 10g sea salt flakes, plus extra for sprinkling
- 10g black peppercorns, ground to a powder
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- a bunch rosemary, chopped
- 200g Italian fennel sausage (ensure gluten-free, if needed)
- 1 lemon, zested
- olive oil, for frying and drizzling
ROAST POTATOES
- 700g potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward work well)
- 200g goose fat
- 2 cloves garlic
- a bunch thyme
PURPLE SPROUTING BROCCOLI
- 350g purple sprouting broccoli
- 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
- olive oil, for drizzling
SALSA VERDE
- a large bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 anchovy fillets
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 cornichons
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- olive oil, for drizzling
Method
- STEP 1
Lay the pork belly on a chopping board, skin-side down, open it out and push it down gently to flatten it. Season with the salt and pepper, and rub in well.
- STEP 2
Evenly scatter the garlic and rosemary over the meat. Squeeze the sausagemeat from the skins, break up and scatter it over the centre of the porchetta. Sprinkle with the lemon zest.
- STEP 3
Roll the meat up tightly and secure with butcher’s string. Leave to come to room temperature or chill, uncovered, overnight – this makes for better crackling as it will dry out.
- STEP 4
Heat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/gas 3. Put the pork belly on a wire rack set over a deep baking tray. Massage a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt into the skin.
- STEP 5
Pour 500ml of water into the tray. Roast for 3 hours 30 minutes-4 hours or until the meat is tender. For the final 30 minutes, turn up the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and cook until the skin is crisp. Remove to a plate but leave the oven on. Rest for 30 minutes, loosely covered.
- STEP 6
Meanwhile, for the roast potatoes, peel the potatoes and cut each into three pieces by cutting the sides at a slant so you are left with a wedge in the middle. Put the potatoes in a large pan, cover with cold water, add some salt and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Drain.
- STEP 7
Put the goose fat in a roasting tin, and put in the oven for a few minutes. Tip in the potatoes, garlic and thyme. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn the potatoes over, and cook for 20 minutes more until golden and crisp.
- STEP 8
Meanwhile, for the purple sprouting broccoli, briefly cook the broccoli in a pan of boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, then drain and leave to cool slightly. Fry the garlic and chilli in a medium pan until golden, then add broccoli and some seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes until tender.
- STEP 9
Put all of the ingredients for the salsa verde, except the olive oil and lemon juice, in a blender and blitz until finely chopped. Drizzle in enough oil to loosen and blitz again. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. It will make more than you need, but will keep for a week in the fridge.
- STEP 10
Drizzle slices of the porchetta with any resting juices, and serve with the roast potatoes, broccoli and salsa verde.
