Italian Street Food – Paola Bacchia

Paola Bacchia’s Italian Street Food: Recipes from Italy’s Bars and Hidden Laneways is a delicious journey along the streets of Italy sharing stories of her food and people. Bacchia not only wrote this book, she also took most of the stunning photographs found throughout its pages.
 

Panino con porchetta {Porchetta roll}

Porchetta is one of the ultimate street foods of central Italy. When making it at home, use a piece of pork belly with the loin still attached and the skin on. If the loin has been separated, you can purchase a piece of loin and stuff this into the middle of the belly. This recipe is from my friend Verdiana’s sister who lives in Spoleto. This recipe makes enough porchetta to feed a group of 12 hungry friends or family with leftovers for a few days.

8 large garlic cloves, minced
1½ tablespoons rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1½ tablespoons wild fennel or fennel fronds, finely chopped
2 heaped tablespoons sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 kg (6 lb 10 oz) pork belly, loin attached, skin on
bread rolls, to serve

In a small bowl, make a paste with the garlic, rosemary, fennel, salt and olive oil.

Score the flesh side of the pork and rub the paste into the flesh with your finger tips. Roll up tightly and tie with kitchen string at 6 cm (2½ in) intervals. Place the rolled porchetta on a wire rack in a roasting tin, and set aside in the fridge, uncovered, to rest overnight (your fridge will have a divine smell of garlic).

Remove the pork from the fridge and pat dry with kitchen towel if the skin is at
all damp. Allow the pork to come to room temperature for 1 hour before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).

Cook the porchetta for 31/2 hours. At the end of cooking, turn up the heat to 250°C (480°F) (or as high as your oven will go) for about 30 minutes, turning the porchetta regularly and checking that it doesn’t burn. This last step ensures that a crackling forms on the outside of the porchetta. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes.

Cut the bread rolls in half and thinly slice the porchetta. Pile the porchetta onto the bottom half of each roll making sure you include thin pieces of crackling. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

Recipe and images courtesy of Smith Street Books and Paola Bacchia.