Porchetta
Ingredients:
6 pounds butterflied pork shoulder
1 and 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 and 1/2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 to 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
5 cloves mashed up garlic
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 bay leaves
1 piece pork skin, large enough to cover the shoulder, or 9 thin slices pancetta
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Directions:
Toast spices & salt in small heavy bottom pan till fragrant, and crush in mortar and pestle. It should be rather coarse, not a powder.
Mix spices with chopped rosemary, orange zest and mashed up garlic.
Add olive oil till it makes a paste.
Slather the pork in the spice mix, and place in a baggie with the bay leaves over night or up to 3 days.
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Bring pork to room temperature.
Take pork out of baggie, turn baggie inside out and rub all the spice paste over the inside of the pork skin.
Roll pork into a cylindrical shape, tie with butcher twine at 1-inch intervals, stick the bay leaves under the middle strings, and lay skin over top (if using pancetta, lay the slices across the top like fish scales).
Place in a roasting pan with a rack, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 150° F.
Remove and let sit until the temperature reaches 160° F. Depending on your oven, you may need to rotate it every so often. It should take 3 to 3 and 1/2 hours.
Remove skin, scrape off the fat and cut into strips with a sharp set of shears, to serve.
Deglaze pan with vinegar.
To serve slice into 1/4-inch slices.
Add a strip of skin (or pancetta) to each plate and drizzle with sauce. Serves 6-8.