Only the Italians could take a piece of fatty belly pork and turn it into a magnificent Sunday roast. This Italian roast porchetta is the proof — deeply savoury, herb-filled, and considerably more impressive than the effort involved suggests. A nation that also gave us pomodoro sauce made from scratch and tiramisù for a Tuesday has its priorities exactly right. I should have emigrated there years ago.

Porchetta is recognised in Italy as prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale — a traditional agri-food product — and for good reason. Boneless belly or shoulder are the traditional cuts. Don't confuse it with pancetta, which is cured pork belly. Porchetta is roasted, stuffed, rolled, and tied, and it fills the kitchen with a smell that makes everything else irrelevant.

My stuffing here is fried white leek, garlic, celery, fennel, poppy seeds, celery leaves, black pepper, sea salt, and toasted breadcrumbs. The scoring of the flesh before rolling captures pockets of stuffing throughout the meat. The low-and-slow finish after the initial blast at 200°C is what gives you the texture — tender inside, with skin that has had time to work on itself.

Italian Roast Porchetta — Ingredients

(serves 4–6)

For the porchetta:

• 1.5kg boneless pork belly, skin on
• Olive oil spray
• Sea salt

For the stuffing:

• White part of 1 leek, finely sliced and fried
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery, finely sliced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• A handful of celery leaves
• 50g toasted breadcrumbs
• Black pepper and sea salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Lay the pork belly skin side down on a board. With a sharp knife, cut shallow slits into the flesh — not too deep — to capture the stuffing. Score the skin if you wish.
3. Spray the flesh side with olive oil. Spread the stuffing across the centre of the meat.
4. Roll tightly and tie with kitchen string at regular intervals. Spray olive oil over the skin and sprinkle with sea salt. Cover the ends with foil secured with toothpicks. Place on a rack over a few carrots in a roasting tray.
5. Roast at 200°C for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, baste, then reduce the temperature to 160°C. Continue roasting for a further 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the ends for the final hour of cooking.
6. Rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

This recipe is part of my Pork Recipes collection — from slow braises to weekend roasts and everything in between. Explore the full Pork Recipes collection.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef