Fennel Seed Porchetta with a Crackling Ribbon

⏱ 300 min · Serves 8

A rolled pork belly and loin, scented with toasted fennel, garlic and lemon, slow-roasted until the meat shreds under a fork. The clever bit: a separate strip of skin is roasted alongside into a shatteringly crisp crackling ribbon to crown each slice.

Per serving: 842 kcal · 58.0g protein · 7.0g carbs · 63.0g fat

Ingredients

• 2.5 kg pork belly, skin on, boneless, in a neat rectangle
• 800 g piece of pork loin, trimmed (ask your butcher to skin the belly edge into one long 5cm ribbon and reserve it)
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Leaves from 6 sprigs rosemary, chopped
• Small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 3 tbsp flaky sea salt, plus 1 tbsp for the skin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fine salt for the crackling ribbon
• 250 ml dry white wine
• 250 ml chicken stock
• 2 onions, thickly sliced
• 3 fennel bulbs, quartered (optional, to roast beneath)
• Butcher's string

Method

1. Toast the fennel seeds, peppercorns and chilli flakes in a dry pan for 1 minute until fragrant. Cool, then crush coarsely in a mortar.
2. Mix two-thirds of the spice with the garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, parsley, 2 tbsp flaky salt and the olive oil to a rough paste.
3. Lay the belly skin-side down. Score the meat lightly in a criss-cross and rub the paste all over the flesh. Sit the loin along one long edge.
4. Roll the belly tightly around the loin, then tie firmly with string at 3cm intervals. Pat the skin bone-dry, rub with 1 tbsp flaky salt and the remaining spice. Chill uncovered on a rack for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, to dry the skin.
5. Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan. Scatter onions and fennel in a roasting tin, pour in the wine and stock, and sit the porchetta on a rack above. Roast 30 minutes.
6. Drop the oven to 160C/140C fan and roast for 3 hours, topping up the liquid with water if it dries out, until a probe reads 88-90C in the centre and the meat feels yielding.
7. Meanwhile, take the reserved skin ribbon, scrape off any excess fat, rub with fine salt and lay flat between two sheets of baking parchment on a tray, weighted with a second tray. Roast on a lower shelf for the last 90 minutes until glassy and puffed. Cool on a rack.
8. Raise the heat to 240C/220C fan for a final 20-25 minutes to blister the porchetta skin. Rest the meat 25 minutes, loosely covered.
9. Skim the tin juices, simmer on the hob for 5 minutes with the softened onions, then strain into a jug for gravy.
10. Snip off the string and carve into thick 2cm slices. Snap the crackling ribbon into shards and lay one across each slice. Serve with the roast fennel and gravy.