Nduja Stuffed Porchetta
A classic pork belly porchetta, stuffed with spicy nduja sausage! With super crispy crackling, tender meat & a whole load of flavour, this one's hard to beat.
Servings: 8 Portions
Equipment
- Pestle & Mortar
- Food Processor
- Digital Food Probe
- Microplane
- Small Frying Pan
- Butcher's Twine
- Large Roasting
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
Nduja Porchetta
- 2 kg Boneless Pork Belly See Notes
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Orange Zested
- 1 Lemon Zested
- 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
- 150 g Nduja
To Cook
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- Sea Salt
Instructions
Prepping The Porchetta
- Using a really sharp knife (or a Stanley knife), score the pork belly's skin horizontally, in 1½ cm intervals. Flip the belly over & lightly score the meat in a criss cross pattern. Place the meat in the fridge whilst you make the marinade.Make sure not to score the skin too deeply, you don't want to cut into the meat! The skin will be easier to score if the pork is cold, so I'd recommend scoring the belly straight from the fridge.
- Place the fennel seeds into a small frying pan then toast over a medium-low heat, until fragrant. This will take a minute or two.
- Transfer the toasted seeds into a pestle & mortar then grind into a coarse powder. Next, grate in the garlic & add in the zests, chopped rosemary, olive oil, salt & plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Next, add the nduja into a food processor then give it a quick blitz, to make it more spreadable. This will only take 30 seconds or so.
- Take your pork belly out of the fridge & place onto a chopping board, skin side down. Spoon over the marinade then massage it into the meat. Add the nduja on top then spread all over the meat, in an even layer.
- Cut 8-10 lengths of butcher's twine & set to one side. The twine needs to be long enough to comfortably wrap around the pork belly.
- Next, roll the pork belly up, into a tight log then place seam side down on your chopping board. Tie the belly up with the twine, leaving a couple of centimetres between each piece. To avoid losing any of the filling, tie a piece of twine at each end then work towards the centre.
- Once prepped, place the porchetta onto a baking tray & leave in the fridge overnight, uncovered. This is key to getting the best crackling!
Cooking The Porchetta
- Preheat an oven to 150°c/130°c fan (302°f/266°f).
- Place a rack inside a large roasting tin then place the porchetta on top. Coat the skin with the vegetable oil then season well with sea salt.
- Roast the porchetta in the preheated oven, until the pork's internal temperature reaches 71°c/160°f. This will take 2-3 hours.
- Next, turn the oven temperature up to 240°c/220°c fan (464°f/428°f) & continue cooking the porchetta for 20-30 minutes, until the skin has crisped up nicely.
- Once the porchetta is cooked, take it out of the oven & let it rest for 30 minutes, covered loosely with foil. Remove the twine then use a serrated knife to cut it into thick slices.
Notes
1. Cooking In An Aga - Roast the porchetta in the baking oven, on the bottom set of runners, with a cold plain shelf placed 2 runners above. Once cooked, transfer the pork to the roasting oven (as high as up as it will go without touching the top of the oven) & continue cooking until the skin is crisp.
2. Pork Belly - Ask your butcher for a 2 kg pork belly with the bones removed & the skin left unscored (we'll be doing this ourselves!).
3. Nduja - This is a spreadable, Italian sausage. Nduja is available in some supermarkets or online. If you're in the UK, I'd recommend using Duchy Charcuterie.
4. 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.
5. Reheating - 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.