by: Kate McMillan
Cook Time
3 hours
Prep Time
10 minutes
Yield
12 servings
Total Time
3 hours
Prep Time
10 minutes
Yield
12 servings
summary
Few cuts of meat are more flavorful than porchetta, roasted pork roast that’s a staple of Italian cooking. By keeping the skin and a layer of fat on the pork shoulder, this roasted porchetta recipe yields incredible flavor and juicy, moist meat. Marinated in herbs and garlic, the slow-roasted pork dish is cooked alongside grapes added during the last 40 minutes of cooking for a sweet and fruity accompaniment.
ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon fennel seed
- ¼ cup fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 5-6 pound boneless, skin-on pork shoulder
- 1 pound small purple grapes, on the vine
directions
- Add the garlic, fennel seed, rosemary, salt and pepper to a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse, scraping down the sides as needed, until rosemary is finely chopped. With the motor running, add the olive oil, and process until fully combined.
- Using a very sharp knife, score the skin on the top of the pork roast, taking care not to cut into the meat. Use kitchen string to tie the roast in 2 to 3-inch intervals.
- Smear the processed paste all over the pork roast, and transfer to the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
- When you are ready, allow the pork to sit at room temperature for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Place the pork in a braising pan and roast for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325°F, and continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer reads 145°F in the center of the pork, about 2 ½ to 3 hours. During the last 40 minutes of cooking, add the grapes to the pan alongside the pork.
- Let the roast stand for 20 minutes before slicing, then serve.
notes
True porchetta is a whole deboned pig. This at-home version is a great (and much easier) way to get that incredible flavor.
You may need to special order a pork roast with the skin still intact. If you can’t get that, you can use without, just ask the butcher to keep a layer of fat intact.
If you use bone-in pork for this, just increase your cooking time until the internal temperature is 145°F.
It is important to score the top of the skin so it doesn’t shrink in the high heat of the oven. Use a very sharp knife to do this, or ask your butcher to do it for you.
Roasting grapes concentrates the sugars, making them incredibly sweet and flavorful. They are the perfect accompaniment to pork.
Always let meat rest for 20 minutes before you slice so the juices have a chance to settle and redistribute.
