Porchettini - slow cooked porc wrapped in proscuitto

What do you get when you mix Porchetta with Saltimbocca?? Well you get what I’m calling Pochettini - porc stuffed and marinated with herbs, proscuitto and cheese and wrapped with some more proscuitto - and slow cooked on very low ..... yup so many tasty things wrapped all together!!

What you’ll need:

• 5-6 pounds bone in porc roast or butt

• 4 stems of oregano

• 4 stems of thyme

• 4-5 large leaves of sage

• 3 stems of rosemary

• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley

• 2 tbsp of toasted fennel seeds

• 3 large cloves of garlic, crushed

• 1/4 cup of olive oil

• 4-5 slices of smoked caciocavallo cheese (you can also use mozzarella)

• 8-10 slices of proscuitto

• 1 cup of sliced fresh fennel

• 1/2 cup of thickly sliced red onion

• 1 cup of white button mushrooms, quartered

• 1 cup of portobello mushroom, quartered

• 1/2 cup of red wine

• 1/2 cup of chicken broth

• Salt and pepper

• Butchers twine

What you’ll do:

Prepare the marinade.

In a food processor, combine the leaves of the oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley and the garlic, fennel seeds, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Set aside the marinade.

Prepare the porc.

Slice the porc following the fat cap, until you can sort of lay it flat, with the bone still intact. This will allow you to put some marinade, then the cheese and a layer of proscuitto in between the porc roast.

Once you’ve sliced the porc, salt and pepper all the porc. Then, in the inner layer of the porc, spread the marinade evenly on the porc, reserve some for the outside of the porc. Then place the cheese and 4 slices of proscuitto on top of the cheese. Then roll the meat back, towards the bone. Spread the rest of the marinade on the outside of the porc, then cover the porc with the remaining slices of proscuitto. With some butchers twine, wrap the porc so that it will stay intact during cooking.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Salt and pepper the fennel and mushrooms. Take a deep Dutch oven or a roasting pan, and drizzle some olive oil on the bottom. Take the slices of fennel and cover the bottom of the Dutch oven. Place the roast on top of the vegetables.

Roast the porc for 30mins, covered.

After 30 mins, remove the porc, and reduce the heat to 280 degrees. Remove the Dutch oven cover, add the mushrooms around the porc, pour the wine over the porc, and then drizzle the chicken stock over the porc.

Roast the porc for 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours, or until interior temperature is about 140 degrees, uncovered.

Let the porc stand at least 10mins in the Dutch oven on your stovetop, unconvered, to allow the juices to stay in the porc. Then remove the twine, and slice the porc on a flat surface.

Plate the porc, drizzle some drippings and the roasted vegetables over the porc.

Pair the porc with your favorite pasta or side, I’ve paired some sage butter pasta here.

Enjoy the sweet saltiness of this porc! With a great glass of Merlot! ENJOY!!