1. Start by preparing the pork loin the day before cooking. Start by removing the butcher string and discard. Unroll your pork loin and place flesh side down on a clean surface. Using a razor blade or Stanley knife create scores in the skin/fat around 1 cm apart. Make sure to not cut too deep, a few millimetres is ideal.
2. Make the marinade: using a mortar and pestle, pound the fennel seeds, salt, chilli flakes, peppercorns, garlic, rosemary and oregano together to make a paste. Loosen the paste with olive oil. Turn the loin over and rub the marinade all over the inside of the pork. Roll the pork back up and, using butcher’s string, tie the meat back up. My advice is to look this up on YouTube as there are many ways to do it and it’s impossible to explain in writing. You want to make sure the string is tight and that the intervals of string are around 2.5cm apart.
3. Place your porchetta on a rack over a baking dish. Pour boiling water all over the skin. Discard the water from the tray and place in the fridge overnight so the skin dries out.
4. Around 2 hours before cooking, remove the porchetta from the fridge, and salt all over with plenty of Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt. After 2 hours using a clean, damp cloth, remove the moisture and salt and pat the meat dry. Preheat the oven to 150c.
5. Place the porchetta, on a rack inside a baking tray, in the oven and roast for 2.5 – 3 hours. After this time increase the heat to 200c. After 15-20 minutes you should have spectacular crackling. My advice is to pull up a stool and watch this happen, you don’t want to burn the crackling. This can happen fast! If you aren’t happy with your crackling after this process you can turn on the grill and blast it with some heat. You will need to rotate it often and be careful not to burn the crackling!
6. Remove the porchetta from the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Remove the string and cut into one-centimetre slices. Using a serrated knife or bread knife will give you the best results. Serve with chimichurri (or gravy) and our crispy fennel, wombok and pomegranate salad.
