Stuffed Porchetta Recipe

This stuffed porchetta recipe is brought to you by Malfy Gin, an Italian gin made close to Turin. It is an ideal centerpiece for tasty times.

Traditionally, porchetta is simply a pork belly rolled with a simple filling of fennel seeds, garlic, lemon and a splash of Italian dessert wine. In this recipe, Malfy Gin has enhanced the stuffing for a more luxurious, herby and fruity effect with extra crunchy crackling around the table.

• More from Malfy Gin: 4 Gin Cocktails.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:
– 3 lbs (1.5 kg) boned pork belly (skin scored)
– fine salt
– black pepper

For the stuffing:
– 7 oz. (200 gr) chicken livers (cleaned and chopped)
– 7 oz. (200 gr) pork mince
– 6 slices of pancetta cubed
– 4 tbsp shallots finely chopped
– 1 tbsp fennel seeds
– small bunch of fresh sage (picked and chopped)
– 2.5 oz. (75 gr) pine nuts
– 2.5 oz. (75 gr) dried apricots chopped
– 2.5 oz. (75 gr) dried cranberries
– 2.5 oz. (75 gr) golden sultanas
– 2.5 oz. (75 gr) Parmesan grated
– 8.5 oz. (250 ml) white wine
– 3.5 oz. (100 gr) breadcrumbs
– zest of lemon

METHOD:
• Start by frying off the shallots (we buy ours pre-chopped in the freezer aisle of our local supermarket) in a little olive oil until softened. Add the chopped pancetta and stir until golden brown. Add the chicken livers and pork mince allowing to brown before breaking up with a wooden spoon. Add the white wine at this point. This will help to deglaze the pan.
• Stir in the fennel seeds, sage, pine nuts, apricots, cranberries & sultanas. Cook and stir for around 10 minutes to help the flavors marry. Place the stuffing in a bowl to one side to cool.
• Once the stuffing is cool, add the zest of the lemon, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Mix with your hands until combined.
• If you are assembling the pork yourself, place the pork belly skin side down on a board and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the stuffing mixture along the middle of the meat lengthways. Roll it up, pushing away from you and tie with string 3 or 4 times. Ensure the seam is on the bottom.
• To achieve perfect crackling, the key is in the preparation. The day before you want to cook your porchetta, dab with kitchen paper to remove excess moisture. Rub the fine sea salt into the scored skin of the pork and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight. This will dry the skin out and give the most golden crispy crackling when cooked.
• When you are ready to cook the pork, remove from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature for an hour. Preheat your oven to the highest setting — this is usually 240ºC. It is important you wait for the oven to come up to temperature. Drizzle the pork with olive oil and season the skin with a little more salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, then immediately turn it down to 180ºC and cook for around a further 2 hours. (If using a thermometer, the center of the meat should reach 77ºC.) During the cooking time if the skin has already crackled and is looking as though it will burn, cover with foil.
• Leave the meat to rest for 30 minutes. Enjoy sliced and topped with lashings of gravy.

TIP: If you don’t feel confident tying the meat, make the stuffing ahead of time and ask your friendly local butcher to roll the pork belly for you complete with homemade stuffing..