Porchetta with Spring Garlic, Fennel, and Potatoes
This show-stopping rolled pork belly roast is infused with rosemary, fennel, and orange and cooked until tender in Tom Colicchio’s Carbon Steel Roasting Pan.
Porchetta is rolled pork belly. It’s going to be fatty… so fatty it should be served with a side of Lipitor. So don’t complain that it’s fatty. That’s also why it’s delicious. Some porchetta is made skin-on and crisped by drizzling hot oil over the skin so it puffs up like a chicharrón. That is incredibly difficult to achieve at home. When I make porchetta, I get my pork belly with the skin removed and then let it rest in the fridge overnight, so the surface dries out a bit (and the herbs rubbed inside infuse it). The result is as impressive as it is simple to make. As it roasts, the pork’s juices baste the vegetables in the Carbon Steel Roasting Pan.
This recipe is shared with permission from Why I Cook by Tom Colicchio (Artisan, 2024).
Porchetta with Spring Garlic, Fennel, and Potatoes
This show-stopping rolled pork belly roast is infused with rosemary, fennel, and orange and cooked until tender in Tom Colicchio’s Carbon Steel Roasting Pan.
Tom Colicchio
- 1.
Lay the pork belly flat on a work surface and use a small knife to create shallow crosshatching on the meaty side of the pork (the nonfat side).
- 2.
In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, rosemary leaves, fennel seeds, and orange zest. Season the pork belly generously with salt and pepper. Spread the oil and herb mixture all over the inside of the pork belly, massaging it into the crosshatches.
- 3.
Starting from a short side, very tightly roll the pork belly into a log shape. Use butcher’s twine to tie the pork; space the ties 1–2 inches apart. Season the outside of the pork generously with salt. You can cook it at this point but it’s ideal to allow the pork to sit overnight uncovered in the fridge (place it on a Sheet Pan).
- 4.
Remove the pork belly from the fridge 60–90 minutes in advance of cooking to allow it to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 325F.
- 5.
Place the porchetta on a Roasting Pan Rack set into a Carbon Steel Roasting Pan and roast until the fat has softened and the internal temperature of the pork registers about 160F, about 3 hours.
- 6.
Remove the Pan from the oven and carefully remove Rack with pork. Scatter the potatoes, spring garlic, fresh fennel, and rosemary sprigs into the Roasting Pan and season lightly with salt and pepper. Nestle the pork back into the Pan without the Rack. Return the Pan to the oven and roast until the vegetables are cooked through, 45–60 minutes.
- 7.
Increase oven temperature to 400F and cook for an additional 15 minutes until the pork skin is crisp and the vegetables are golden.
- 8.
Remove the porchetta from the oven and let rest for about 15 minutes before removing the twine and cutting. Serve slices of porchetta with the roasted vegetables.
From his time at the storied Gramercy Tavern to his ongoing role as head judge of Top Chef, Chef Tom Colicchio has been pioneering new American fine dining for most of his career. In recent years, he has relied more and more on our Carbon Steel Roasting Pan and the Fishing Knives we co-designed.
