Smoked Porchetta

About this time last year we went on our dream vacation to Italy. For those of you whom have not gone yet, I will tell you that it is a magical country. The people are friendly, the land is beautiful, and the food....oh God, the food. One year later found us reminiscing about the trip, tracking our day by day movements throughout the countryside. Towards the end of our journey we stopped in this ancient little town called Oriveto. Situated high upon a plateau, this unassuming town has played an important role in Western civilization since before the Roman Empire.  In modern times, the oldest part of the town has become quite sleepy during the day. Little shops are open for tourists to enjoy the local goods - mostly great white wine, leather products, hand carved olive wood, and ceramics. Just before leaving, we visited the weekly open air market to experience the local scene. Given the towns remoteness this market is how the locals get all of their goods from outside the town. It is quite the event.

Before visiting the market, we were advised to try a regional pork sandwich. After a little searching, we found a food truck selling the most delicious meat we'd ever seen: PORCHETTA! The traditional Italian porchetta is an entire pig, de-boned, filled with herbs and spices, and slow cooked to perfection.

As you may imagine, all of this reminiscing made us hungry and led to us thinking that there MUST be some way to re-create that delicious meal at home. However, we have neither the room in our bellies or in our refrigerator for an entire de-boned pig. After adapting some recipes online and using John's expertise with the smoker, we think we have found a delicious combination that imitates that heavenly sandwich we found on the streets of Orvieto.

Our rendition of porchetta requires just two parts of the pig: the lean tenderloin and the juicy skin-on pork belly. The combination of the two gives you a nice meaty flavor, a fatty bacon texture, and the crispy pork "cracklin" that ties everything together. Though the original recipe called for an oven, we opted to cook the entire thing on the smoker and grill. This gave us the ability to add a nice light, sweet, smoked flavor to the meat using apple wood (specifically some Ozark apple wood that we found at a local farmers market). The end result was nothing less than perfect delicious.

For tips on smoking meat and further details on the process, please see John's upcoming smoking post.

Smoked Porchetta
Yield: A lot of meat. Seriously, you're going to need to freeze some of this, or invite 8-10 people over.
Ingredients:

Salt Rub
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
2 Teaspoons toasted fresh Rosemary, Chopped
2 Teaspoons toasted Fennel seed, crushed
2 Teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 Teaspoons freshly ground pepper
zest of 1 lemon

Herb Rub
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary

The meat
12x12 inch slab of skin-on pork belly
1-2 lbs of pork tenderloin, about 3 inches in diameter

oil
string

Directions:
Score the skin side of the pork belly with a sharp knife (seriously, the skin can be very tough). Combine the ingredients for the salt rub in a small bowl. Lightly oil the inside of the pork belly and sprinkle half of the salt rub on it. Then sprinkle on the herb rub. Place the tenderloin in the center of the belly, and then roll the belly tightly. Secure the roll with kitchen twine and sprinkle the outside with the rest of the salt rub. Finally set it on a platter, cover, and then place in refrigerator for about 12 hours.

Heat your smoker (or charcoal grill if using an indirect cooking method) using lump charcoal to about 275°. Put the porchetta in the smoker for about 5 hours, checking the temperature of the smoker every 30-45 minutes. A light application of smoke is recommended for this recipe as you don't want to overpower the subtle flavors of the rubs. Your pork will be ready when the internal temperature reaches 160°.

At this point, remove porchetta from smoker and place on a hot grill (around 375°) for about 10-15 minutes to crisp the skin. Be careful during this step as the hot juices and fat from the pork will catch fire easily, spiking the temperature and burning the outside. You're looking for a nice golden, crisped outside.  You want to minimize the charring to the skin as much as possible.

Remove the pork from the grill and let it rest for 20-25 minutes before cutting. Serve on hard rolls or buns with your choice of sauce.  We like to use a jalapeno-vinegar sauce that is sold locally here.  You don't want to use anything like BBQ sauce on this.  Instead look for sauces like a salsa verde or something that you would typically put with Puerto Rican or Cuban-style roast pork.

Recipe adapted from: iamafoodblog