PORCHETTA PANINI WITH FENNEL & MUSTARD FRUITS
SERVES 4
The crunchy crackling and melt-in-themouth meat of porchetta – a boneless Italian pork roast – is irresistible. Even more so when sandwiched in a ciabatta roll along with crunchy fennel and mustard fruit to cut through the richness.
INGREDIENTS
1kg boneless pork belly, skin scored at 1cm intervals with a very sharp knife
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling and tossing
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp roasted fennel seeds, crushed using a mortar and pestle
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
Finely grated zest and juice ½ lemon Flaky sea salt
4 ciabatta rolls, halved
Mayonnaise, for spreading
Chopped mustard fruits (see note), to serve 1 baby fennel bulb, thinly shaved on mandoline, fronds reserved
Wild rocket, to serve
1 Preheat oven to 220°C. Place pork skin-side up on a wire rack in the sink, carefully pour a kettle of boiling water over the skin to help the score marks open, then stand for 10 minutes to dry out. Pat dry with paper towels.
2 Stir oil, garlic, crushed fennel seeds, rosemary and lemon zest in a bowl, season to taste, then rub mixture over pork flesh. Place pork skin-side up in a small roasting pan lined with baking paper, scatter skin generously with sea salt flakes and roast until skin starts to crackle and brown (30-35 minutes). Reduce oven to 180°C and roast until tender when pierced with a sharp knife (25-30 minutes). Remove from oven and leave to rest for 20 minutes, then thinly slice meat and crackling.
3 Drizzle the cut sides of ciabatta rolls with olive oil, then spread with mayonnaise. Top bases with porchetta, crackling and mustard fruits, and season to taste. Toss fennel in a bowl with lemon juice and olive oil to taste, season to taste and pile on top of filling, scatter with rocket, sandwich with ciabatta tops and serve.
NOTE Mustard fruits, or mostarda di frutta, is an Italian condiment of fruit preserved in mustard-flavoured syrup. It’s available from some specialist food stores and local producers (eg Moutere Gold).