Porchetta

Sandy and I attended our first cooking class since Covid started just over the hill from our beautiful Port Cygnet House, southern Tasmania. The menu was based around the Puglia region, southern Italy where we have been so lucky to have spent so many a day cooking and today we were transported back to southern Italy with the mouth watering aromas of roasting meats wafting in the air of this delightful country kitchen.

It was a great intense class full of information and Italian tips with several hearty winter dishes to make then sit in the elegant dining room and enjoy with a glass of wine and like minded cooks with great conversation.

Looking out the window as I tend to do at cooking classes taking in all that surrounds me was a real treat, 7 degrees this morning with a top of 10, so a wintery Tasmanian day for sure.

Our 1st dish is Porchetta, roasted pork belly roll, what moreish and scrummy Italian comfort food.

 Butterflied pork belly, score the rind and rub with chilli powder and coarse salt.

  Flip is over and coat the meat side with mustard, garlic, spring onions, grated pecorino cheese and herbs like thyme, sage, (soft leaves only). 

It is then tightly rolled, tied to secure and put in a lidded oven dish with white wine, olive oil, onion slices, and the stalks from the herbs and 2 dried bay leaves (bay leaves are too bitter if fresh!).

Into a preheated oven at 250 degs for 30 mins then reduce the heat to 160 degs and cook for a further 2 1/2 hours. Add some Dutch Cream potatoes (nice and buttery) to the sides of the dish approx. 1 hour before the end of the cook. 

Today's flavour was superb and it did transport us back to Italy! 

But, today we thought the Porchetta was too wet, our memories from Italy were a dry roasted pork roll with more cracking, today they also put mushrooms in the oven dish adding to the amount of liquid and as it all sat in the bottom of a low lidded oven dish it crackled on the top but stewed on the sides. 

Our solution would be to .... - the mushrooms put the pork roll on larger whole carrots and onions in a bigger taller lidded oven dish and uncover for the last bit of time to crackle and roast a bit more, (being carful not to dry out the meat) and cook for a couple more hours it was rushed today in a short cook and over crowded pan.

So it looks like we will need to have a practise at home.

The potatoes were just soooo buttery and yummy which I thought was just perfectly braised in the liquid and not brown roasted.

 So for a more roasted potato I think you could pull them out and finish them on a baking tray, personal choose.