Oven-Roasted Porchetta Sandwiches

• • • Makes 8 servings • • •

Porchetta—generously seasoned, deboned, stuffed, and roasted whole pig—is sold in marketplaces all over central Italy, particularly the hill towns of Lazio, beyond Rome, out to Abruzzo, Le Marche, Tuscany, and Umbria. Making great porchetta is an art form; there are regional and national competitions and awards. For producers, it’s a way of life. Porchetta trucks travel from town to town, setting up in piazzas and farmers’ markets, purveyors deftly carving slice after slice and selling the spiced meat by the kilo or piled into large crusty rolls. The seasonings vary from place to place and from producer to producer, but you can almost always count on rosemary, garlic, and fennel being part of the mix. My simplified, home-cooking version of this iconic street food is based on the porchetta I grew up eating in Abruzzo. I have to brag that it tastes pretty darned authentic.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing on the pork

1 small fennel bulb, coarsely chopped, about 1 cup (113 g)

⅓ cup (40 g) coarsely chopped garlic, about 12 cloves

3½ to 4 pounds (1.6 to 1.8 kg) boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)

¼ cup (70 g) Porchetta Salt (page 146)

8 ciabatta rolls or other crusty rustic rolls

1 • Place the oil, fennel, and garlic in a medium skillet and cook, stirring, over low heat until the vegetables have begun to soften, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2 • Butterfly the pork: Lay the shoulder on its side on a cutting board. Beginning at the top, make an incision about 1 inch from the edge and 1 inch deep. Continue to slice down the length of the pork, unfolding the meat as you go. Work slowly and deliberately, going no deeper than an inch and pulling back the meat as you work. Once you’ve cut the entire length of the roast, start at the top again and make another, deeper cut, again working down the length of the roast and pulling back the meat as you go. Continue to slice and unfold the shoulder from top to bottom, until you’ve cut your way through the roast. When you’re done it should be lying flat and open, more or less. Mine is never perfect. If you don’t care to tackle the task yourself, ask your butcher to butterfly it for you.

3 • Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the porchetta salt over the surface of the pork. Spread the fennel-garlic mixture on top, then sprinkle another tablespoon of the salt on top. Beginning at one of the short ends, roll up the pork as tightly as you can, arranging it seam side down on the cutting board. Tie the roast at 1-inch intervals with kitchen twine. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil over the meat and rub it in gently. Then sprinkle all over with the remaining 2 tablespoons salt.

4 • Set the porchetta on a rack inside a roasting or baking pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.

5 • Remove the pork from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Heat the oven to 275°F.

6 • Roast the porchetta, uncovered, until the top is deeply browned and the meat is well cooked and fork-tender throughout, 3 to 4 hours. It should register 160 to 170°F on a meat thermometer. Remove the roast from the oven, tent with aluminum foil, and let sit for at least 15 minutes, preferably 30. Turn off the oven and place the rolls inside to warm up for a few minutes.

7 • Transfer the porchetta to a cutting board and remove the twine. Reserve the juices in the roasting pan. Cut the roast into thin slices, setting aside any crusty pieces.

8 • Assemble the sandwiches: Split the warm rolls and spoon some of the juices onto each bottom half. Pile the pork generously on top, making sure each sandwich has a piece or two of the crust. Top with the upper half of the rolls and serve.