Christmas porchetta

Method

(This recipe was kindly provided by Linley Valley Pork). Serves 4.

This Christmas recipe is not for the faint hearted, but all your hard work will pay off with an impressive smoked, rotisserie-cooked porchetta that will have the whole table ready to eat. Watch Masterchef alumni Derek Lau prepare this impressive dish here.

Test wrap the pork belly around the loin. Trim the edges so it fits perfectly around to encase the loin. Score the pork belly horizontally (lengthways) in the opposite direction to your trussing. Salt the skin, and leave in the fridge overnight to dry.

The next day, toast the fennel. Then, using a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel, thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic, peppercorns and salt into a fine powder. Use the white wine to help it form a paste, then add olive oil as required to assist.

Lay the pork belly skin side down. Deeply score the meat side in a cross pattern. Rub the paste on the inside of the pork (where you have just scored). Zest the lemon on top.

Lay the pork loin inside the belly. Wrap the belly around the loin so it completely encases the loin.

At this point you have two options. Option 1 (easier) is to tie the pork at regular intervals so that it forms a roll. Just use any old knot but make it tight.

Option 2 (harder) is for those more familiar with trussing. Tie a butcher’s knot at one end, working your way down to the other end. Then flip the porchetta over and tie the other side so it is a nice tight roll. There are lots of examples of this on YouTube – search for “how to tie a pork loin”.

After you’ve tied your porchetta, roll the outside in salt and leave it to rest in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.

Preheat a smoker to 240Cs (The chef made this with a kettle barbecue, using two baskets of coal, with the rotisserie set up down the middle of the coals, not over the direct heat).

Prepare a full chimney and get this as hot as possible, until the top coals are white. Pour the coal into the baskets. Set up your rotisserie.

Remove the porchetta from the fridge, and place onto the skewer for the rotisserie. Put it into the barbecue, open all vents and let it start turning. It will take about 50 minutes at the initial temperature for the skin to blister up.

Then reduce the barbecue to 180C and let that bring the meat up to temperature. You are aiming for over 70 degrees internal temperature.

Once you have reached this, take out the porchetta and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Slice and serve.