Porchetta Italian Marketplace Slow Roast Pulled Pork Sandwich Food

PORCHETTA - ITALIAN MARKETPLACE SLOW ROAST PULLED PORK SANDWICH

Steps:

• Lay the pork on a large chopping board and cover with cling film. With a rolling pin, mallet, or other suitable blunt object, pound the meat as close to an even 1" thickness that you can manage.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high. Add all of the chopped onion, half the minced garlic, half the fennel seeds, all of the rosemary and bay, half of the ground cloves, salt and pepper, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until all the fragrance has been released from the herbs and spices. Transfer to a plate to cool.
• Spread and rub this mixture over and into the pork, then roll the meat up as tightly and neatly as you can. Tie with kitchen string at intervals.
• Mix the remaining ingredients (minced garlic, fennel seeds, ground cloves, olive oil) and rub it over the outside of the pork. Cover it with cling film and refrigerate 24 hours, or at least overnight.
• Remove the meat 40 minutes before cooking to allow it to return to room temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C/300F Take the cling film off the pork and place the pork joint in to a roasting tin.
• Cook the pork for 4 hours to 5 hours, until it is falling apart when you test it with a knife or fork. If the spices on the surface start to char too badly (a little blackness is a good thing), tent foil loosely over the roast. (I find I need to cover it for the last hour of cooking.).
• CROCK POT - at this stage, cook the pork in a crock pot for 4 to 5 hours on high, or on automatic for up to 8 hours.
• Remove from the oven and leave to rest at least 30 minutes to one hour. Slice, pull or shred the meat and serve in warmed ciabatta rolls.

ITALIAN PORCHETTA SANDWICH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• For the herb rub: Add the garlic, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the oregano, rosemary and thyme and pulse into a rustic paste. Season with salt. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the rub for the mayonnaise spread.
• For the pork: Lay the pork belly on a cutting board, skin-side-up, and score the skin at 1-inch intervals, 1/2-inch deep with a sharp knife. Rotate the pork 90 degrees and score the skin again, to create a diamond pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt; be sure to get into all the crevices. Flip the pork over, sprinkle generously with salt, then rub the meat side with the herb rub. Roll the pork belly up as tightly as possible and tie it crosswise with butcher's twine at 2-inch intervals.
• Place the pork in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Pour 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the pan. Roast the pork to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Check periodically to ensure there is still some liquid in the bottom of the pan and add a little water to prevent scorching. Baste the pork belly with pan drippings a couple of times during cooking.
• Once the pork reaches 150 degrees F, raise the oven to 475 degrees F and continue roasting until the skin is super crispy, 30 to 40 minutes. For even browning, flip the pork halfway through the second roasting period.
• Transfer the porchetta to a cutting board and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the rack from the roasting pan and pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the pan drippings. Set the roasting pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the mayonnaise spread: Mix together the mayonnaise, capers, parsley, lemon zest and juice and the reserved herb rub. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cut the porchetta into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
• To assemble the sandwich: Slather both halves of a ciabatta roll with mayonnaise spread. Layer the bottom half with slices of porchetta and top with caramelized onions and arugula.

PORCHETTA - ITALIAN MARKETPLACE PULLED PORK SANDWICH (CROCK POT)

Steps:

• Rub the roast all over with the olive oil, then rub with the seasonings. Place roast in bottom of crock pot, and top with the bay leaves and chopped onion.
• Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then reduce heat to LOW and cook 10-12 hours more until meat is falling apart, yet tender, and done.
• Remove to a large cutting board and let cool slightly, then use two forks to pull apart the meat into chunks, discarding the bay leaves.
• Stuff into warmed and buttered Italian ciabatta rolls, and dig in!

ITALIAN PORCHETTA (SHREDDED PORK) SANDWICH RECIPE

Steps:

• 1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onion, rosemary, bay leaf, salt, pepper, half of the garlic, half the cloves, and half of the fennel in two tbsp. of the olive oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool. 2. While mixture cools, pound your piece of pork into a large, even, 1-inch-thick piece with a meat mallet. The more square the piece, the easier it will be to work with. Place meat on a large piece of plastic wrap. 3. Rub onion mixture into the surface of your pork, working it into the meat a bit. 4. Roll the meat into a tight spiral, tying it closed with kitchen string. If you roll it too loosely, the meat will dry out so do this carefully. 5. In a small bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, cloves, garlic, and fennel with a fork. 6. Rub oil mixture into the outside of the pork, working it gently into the meat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge about 24 hours. 7. When you're ready to cook, take the pork out of the fridge to allow the meat to come to room temperature. 8. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 9. Unwrap and place your rolled, tied pork into a roasting pan. 10. Cook pork until it's fall-apart tender. This should take 4-5 hours. During the last hour or so of cooking, cover the meat lightly with a tented piece of foil. 11. Remove meat from the oven and let it rest about an hour. 12. Serve on crusty Italian rolls and allow guests to choose their own toppings.