Black Garlic Pork Belly Porchetta
This black garlic pork belly porchetta is a twist on the classic Italian roast pork! The meat's tender, the crackling is crisp & the black garlic adds a sweet unami flavour which cuts through the rich pork.
Servings: 6 People
Equipment
- Large Roasting Tin With Rack
- Digital Food Probe
- Pestle & Mortar
- Microplane/Grater
- Butcher's Twine
Ingredients
- 2½ kg Boneless Pork Belly (See Notes)
Black Garlic Porchetta Marinade
- 2 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 15 g Black Garlic (Roughly 10 Cloves)
- 2 tsp Finely Chopped Rosemary
- 2 tsp Finely Chopped Sage
- 1 tsp Finely Chopped Thyme
- 1 Large Orange (Zested)
- 1 Lemon (Zested)
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- ¾ tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil
To Cook
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- Sea Salt
Instructions
Black Garlic Porchetta Marinade
- Place the fennel seeds into a small frying pan then cook over a medium-low heat until toasted & fragrant. This will only take a minute or so.
- Add the toasted seeds into a pestle & mortar, grind into a coarse powder then transfer to a small bowl.
- Next, add the black garlic into the pestle & mortar, grind into a smooth paste then add in the fennel seeds, chopped herbs, zests, salt, pepper & olive oil. Stir to combine then set to one side.
Pork Belly Prep
- Place your belly onto a chopping board so that it's facing skin side down. If there's any sinew or stray bits of bone on the meat, trim these off with a sharp knife.
- Next, use a sharp knife to butterfly the pork belly open like a book. To do this, hold your knife parallel to your chopping board then cut the meat through the middle, stopping just before you cut all the way through.Make sure to cut the pork belly so that it opens up along its' longer side. I find that a large chef's knife works best for this. There's a visual guide to doing this in the post above.
- Open up the pork belly then use a sharp knife to lightly score the meat in a criss cross pattern. Fold the meat back over then flip the belly over so that it's facing skin side up.
- Next, using a really sharp knife (or a Stanley knife), score the pork belly's skin in 1½ cm intervals. Make sure not to cut too deeply. We only want to score the skin not cut into the meat!The scores should run between the 2 longer edges so that when we roll the pork belly up, they run horizontally down the roast.
- Flip the belly back over, open the meat back up then spoon the marinade all over. Massage the marinade into the meat with your hands then roll the belly into a tight log, with the skin covering the outside. Once rolled, place seam side down on your chopping board.
- Tie the belly up with the butcher's twine, leaving a couple of centimetres between each piece. To avoid losing any of the filling, tie a piece of twine in the middle & at each end then work towards the centre.
- Next, sprinkle the skin with a light coating of fine table salt then leave in the fridge overnight, uncovered.This is key to getting the best crackling!
Cooking The Porchetta
- Take the porchetta out of the fridge, place onto a rack set inside a roasting tin then let the meat sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.The pork needs to be facing skin side up.
- In the meantime, preheat an oven to 135°c/115°c fan (275°f/240°f).
- Next, coat the pork skin with the vegetable oil then season generously with sea salt. Rub the salt into the scores in the skin with your hands.
- Place the porchetta into the preheated oven then cook until the meat feels soft like butter when you insert a food probe. This will roughly take 5-6 hours.It's best to cook pork belly to feel instead of internal temperature. However, if you check the internal temperature with a food probe, it needs to be over 75°c/167°f.
- Next, take the porchetta out of the oven then turn the temperature up to 240°c/464°f. Once up to to temperature, continue cooking the pork for 10-15 minutes, until the skin has crisped up nicely.
- Once cooked, loosely cover the porchetta with foil then let rest for at least 30 minutes.
- To serve, carefully remove the string from the pork then cut the meat into slices with a sharp, serrated knife.
Notes
1. To Cook In An Aga - Slow roast the porchetta in the simmering oven, on the second from bottom set of runners until tender. To crisp up the skin, roast the pork in the roasting oven, on the second from bottom set of runners.
2. Pork Belly - Ask your butcher for a 2½ kg pork belly with the bones removed & the skin left unscored (we’ll be doing this ourselves!).
3. Black Garlic - Black garlic can be found in some supermarkets or online. Black garlic is made by aging bulbs of garlic for several weeks & has a sweeter, more mild flavour than regular garlic. If you'd prefer to use regular garlic, I'd recommend using 5 cloves.
4. Slicing - The best way to slice pork with crackling is to use a sharp serrated knife.
5. Storage – Once rolled, the porchetta can be left in the fridge for up to 2 days before being cooked. Once cooked, any leftovers should be stoted in the fridge & will keep for up to 3 days.
6. Leftovers - Leftover porchetta can be eaten hot or cold. To reheat, cut the pork into slices then fry in a pan with a small amount of oil, until crisp & hot. Alternatively, place the slices of porchetta into a dish, cover with foil then heat up in a 180°c/356°f oven.