The Cut Of Pork Traditionally Used For Porchetta

Porchetta, a venerable Italian rolled pork roast that was traditionally prepared for feasts and celebrations, has become the darling of chefs and home cooks alike, thanks to its compelling combination of textures and flavors. Historically crafted from a whole, boned pig, heavily seasoned with salt and herbs, rolled up, and roasted until the exterior skin is crispy and browned and the interior meat is tender and juicy, it's now more common (and practical) to create a porchetta with a smaller cut of pork.

Many modern porchetta recipes call for a large slab of pork belly, which is sometimes rolled around a leaner pork loin section to create the same meat and fat proportions of that whole pig in a smaller, easier to manage sized roast. Others simplify matters by only using skin-on pork belly alone, and some porchetta recipes substitute a cut of pork shoulder, which is still sufficiently fatty to roast up moist and flavorful.

The cut of meat is one important factor in creating porchetta. The other is seasoning the meat properly. No matter what cut of pork you decide on, you'll want to be sure it's evenly flat by pounding or butterflying the meat. The main seasonings used for a porchetta are fennel and woody herbs like thyme and rosemary, along with salt and pepper, which are sprinkled on one side of the meat before it's rolled up and tied into the traditional log shape.

The process of making a porchetta might seem daunting, but it's really just like any other roast, requiring some patience and a good cut of meat. Because a porchetta is rolled into a tight cylinder before roasting, it's one of the most approachable roasts to carve — you'll get nice, even slices of meat that are beautiful on the serving plate. The slices make wonderfully rich sandwiches, too, especially when tempered with a handful of greens or sauteed peppers.