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Porchetta with salsa verde
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 2kg pork loin with belly attached
- olive oil, to roast
- 200g carrots, halved lengthways
- 200g leeks, cut into 5cm chunks
- 2 celery stalks, cut into 5cm chunks
- 100ml white wine
For the stuffing
- olive oil, to fry
- 2 large red onions, finely chopped
- 5g sage leaves, finely chopped
- 1 apple, grated
- 100g smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
- 20g chives, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 100g sourdough bread
- 3tbsp white wine
- 3tbsp Vin Santo or sherry
- 1tsp salt
- 1/2tsp cracked black pepper
For the salsa verde
- 25g flat-leaf parsley
- 25g fresh coriander
- 75ml olive oil
- 2tbsp lime juice, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 small shallot, finely diced
- 1/2 small green chilli, finely diced
- 1 anchovy fillet
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C/ 140C F/Gas 3. First, prepare the stuffing. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the onions and sage leaves and cook until soft, then remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add the grated apple to the bowl. Fry off the bacon in the same pan until cooked but not crispy, then add to the onion bowl and leave to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the chives, garlic and bread in a food processor and blitz to fine breadcrumbs. Add these to the cooled bacon and onion mixture, along with the white wine and Vin Santo or sherry. Add the salt and pepper, and ensure everything is evenly distributed and well combined.
Lay the pork out, skin-side up, on a large chopping board. Diagonally score the skin roughly halfway through the fat every few cm. Flip the pork over, skin-side down, and press flat. You may need to cut across the loin a little to flatten it fully.
Scatter the stuffing mixture over the pork and use your hands to compact and spread it evenly across the surface of the meat. Roll up, loin-side first, as tightly as you can and secure with butcher’s string. Place the roll in a deep roasting tray, seam-side down and drizzle olive oil over the top, then season generously.
Arrange the carrots, leeks and celery around the base of the tray, then pour over the wine. Roast for 5–6 hours, covering the tray with foil if the meat is browning too quickly, until the internal temperature of the meat is 75C on a cook’s thermometer.
Meanwhile, to make the salsa verde, put the herbs in a food processor or chop very finely by hand. Mix in the oil until smooth, then transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season to taste.
Once cooked, allow the meat to rest for at least 15 minutes, ideally up to 30 minutes, then slice and serve with a good dollop of the salsa.
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