March 8, 2021
Serves: 6-8
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours | Total Time: 3 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Porchetta:
- 5 kg pork shoulder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 10 sage leaves, fresh
- 5 sprigs oregano, fresh
- 2 sprigs rosemary, fresh
- 1 tablespoon dried fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried chili flakes (optional)
- 1 liter water (or enough to cover the pork by ¾)
- 6 Portofino Bakery Peasant Buns
For the Salsa Verde:
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 cups fresh Italian parsley, stems removed, roughly chopped
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried chili flakes (optional)
Directions:
For the Porchetta:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Heat a large Dutch oven (or oven-safe pot) on the stove over medium-high heat. Season the pork shoulder on all sides with the salt and pepper. Once hot, add the olive oil to the pot, followed by the pork. Sear the pork on all sides until golden brown.
- Once the pork has been seared on all sides, add the onion and garlic to the pot, placing it all around the pork shoulder. Let the onions and garlic cook for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften and become fragrant.
- Next, add the sage, oregano, rosemary, fennel seeds and chili flakes to the pot, followed by the water. Make sure there is enough water to come ¾ of the way up the pork shoulder and that the pork isn’t fully submerged in water.
- Cover the pot with a lid and place in the center of the oven. Cook the pork shoulder for 3 hours, flipping the pork shoulder in the cooking juices every hour.
- After 3 hours, transfer the pork to a large bowl and use 2 forks to shred the meat. Add ½ cup of the cooking juice from the pot to the shredded pork and toss everything to combine.
- Serve the pork on toasted Portofino Bakery Peasant Buns and top with 1-2 tablespoons of Salsa Verde. Enjoy!
For the Salsa Verde:
- Add the garlic, salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse to finely chop the garlic.
- Next, add the lemon juice, parsley, basil, olive oil, dried oregano and chili flakes and pulse until the salsa verde is smooth.
- Transfer the salsa verde to a bowl and reserve until you are ready to serve with the Pulled Porchetta Sandwiches.
Recipe Notes:
- You can also cook the pork shoulder on the stove, covered, for 3-4 hours over low heat rather than cooking it in the oven. Just make sure to check on the pork every hour to ensure that there is still enough water in the pot.
- You can also cook the pork shoulder in a crock pot on low heat for 6-8 hours. For best results, sear the pork shoulder and cook the onions and garlic until golden brown before adding to the crock pot. If cooking using this method, add only 1 cup of water to the crockpot before cooking.
- If the Salsa Verde is not mixing in the food processor, add a tablespoon of water at a time until the Salsa Verde forms a smooth sauce.
Recipe by: SEASON & SERVE (A FOOD BLOG FOR ALL SEASONS)
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