Porchetta Pork Roast Recipe (2024)

Recipe directs placing on a rimmed baking sheet. But video shows a deep roasting pan. Which one gets the best results?

I made this for my wife's birthday and it was perfect for a large gathering with no work on the day of the feast, the marinade being prepared the day before. I had to buy a lot of fennel to get enough fennel fronds, so the vegetable accompaniment was David Tanis's Fennel al Forno, also prepared ahead early in the day. The fennel gratin went into the hot oven when the roast came out and baked while it was resting, so a perfect meal came to the table with no distraction after the guests arrived!

Made this with a skin-on/bone-in pork shoulder last night for a dinner party. It is easy, juicy, and it smelled divine while cooking. I read the reviews by others and lowered the temp to 250 after the initial 450. Low and slow is good for this cut of meat. 180 seems like a high internal temp for the meat but it's apparently a magic number for fat/connective tissue to work their magic. Guests raved.

With all due respect, it's not meant to be even remotely healthy. It's porchetta, and if you've ever had any in Italy, you'll understand that the charm of this preparation is the crunchy fat. Google it and you'll see the whole pigs roasted for market day, with folks standing next to the deli trucks eating juicy sandwiches on nice bread, grease oozing down their chins ...

If only skinless is available, should I cover the roast in bacon slices to get the crackling effect?

I just made this yesterday and it was wonderful. But, the skin didn't crisp up. Any suggestions as to what went wrong? Other than the skin not crisping, the recipe was easy to follow and the taste was out of this world.

Do you leave the herb-and-spices paste on the roast while cooking?

A loin roast will be dry and overcooked if prepared this way. Shoulder has much more fat and collagen than the loin, and takes to long, slow roasting. It becomes fall-apart tender at an internal temperature of 195 or so. Loin needs higher oven heat, less time, and is done at a lower internal temperature (140 or so).

Made only a 3 lb pork butt roast, but used the same amount of marinade as in the recipe. Marinating overnight produces rich, deep flavor. Might reduce salt a bit. Put in more fennel fronds than stated. Butcher let me choose exact piece I wanted. Got 1" of skin on it. The skin is essential. I used new razor blade to score it. Worked beautifully. For smaller roast, start at 450 for 35 mins, then reduce to 250 for 3 hours. Got raves and begging to take home leftovers. Absolutely fantastic!!!

WONDERFUL! Used a heritage picnic shoulder instead of a butt, it was all that was available, still so flavorful and moist throughout. Sliced, made a nice presentation. For those wanting a sauce, I ended up with 3.5 cups drippings, about 1/3 of that was fat. Once fat removed, it seems to me the meaty herby broth(? if that's the right term) will make a fine gravy, perhaps with mushrooms, shallots, splash of sherry or red wine, a tad rosemary, and fresh parsley sprinkled on at the end.

I've made this twice now, using boned roasts, and it was an unqualified hit on both occasions. Watch out, though, as boned roasts, at least, cook even more quickly than the author says. My most recent roast, a 6 lb. boneless, would have cooked in less than 3 hours total had I not reduced the oven temp to 250 deg. F. about 30 minutes after reducing the heat to 350 deg. F.

This was hands down one of the best roast pork shoulder recipes I have ever made. Super super simple (literally besides putting the pork in the oven and checking on it there's like 10 minutes of active prep work) and totally delicious. I had a 9 lb bone-in shoulder and as others have noted, it finished on the early side of the provided cooking time. I would definitely start checking every 30 minutes 2 hours after you turn the temp down to 325. A meat thermometer is CRUCIAL for this.

The reason the skin was tough and chewy was because you didn't follow the directions. You need the oven to be hot enough throughout the cook to render the fat and crisp the skin.

Delish, followed the Cooks Illustrated method of cooking and slow roasted at 300 for 7 hours during the last blizzard. House smelled amazing. Made Cuban sandwiches with leftovers.

I made this wonderful frond and seed and spice mixture and used it on two pork tenderloins totaling 2.75 pounds. Marinated them in the fridge for 7 hours, roasted them at 475 degrees for 22 minutes, turning them halfway through, then rested for 10 minutes. They were wonderful, tender, juicy and infused with wonderful flavors. It's now my go-to recipe for these mundane cuts.

Made this but loosely followed quantities for the marinade; it doesn't matter it was DELICIOUS. Marinated the roast for a good 16 hours rotating it once so top and bottom could alternate sitting in the pool of marinade. Served it with fresh pasta and a gravy made from the drippings - our Italian guest could not stop raving about it!

I have a 4.5 lb bone in shoulder roast…any recommendations for adjusting cooking times? Thank you!

I have made this recipe several times and it’s turned out great. The guests always rave, especially when they walk in and smell the porchetta. I splurged and bought a 22 pound bone in shoulder from SRF. It’s Kurobota so will have a lot of good fat. I considered cutting into two pieces to make it more manageable but would prefer to keep it one piece. How many hours will this take to cook?

This is flavorful main course item will keep your guests talking about this dish for weeks to come. This show stopper is worth the wait and the marinade time.

Only OK, though the fennel rub was delicious. I think it was my cut of meet--it was boneless pork shoulder, but only managed less that a cup of drippings, and there was a lot of fat left in the meat. Not so tender, though the meat thermometer was over 190. Did I need to cook it longer? I had an 8 pound boneless roast cooking at 350, 250, and then 350 again, for 5 hours.

Any recommendations for sides for this?

I rarely post but this was a winner. Simple technique and excellent result with an affordable piece of meat. Trussing is a must for best results. I cooked to 175 rather than 180 and will try slightly lower temps the next time. Make sure to do something delicious with all the fennel bulb you likely have leftover - fennel al forno (nyt cooking) was a good choice but shaved into a salad is always delicious too.

Wow to this recipe! Gorgeous flavor, lovely tender, juicy meat even without the skin/crackling. It's hard to find skin-on pork in France where I am, but I'm looking for next time. I subbed dried dill for the fennel fronds--produce is seasonal here and fresh unavailable in winter. It was still fantastic, with a simple white wine deglazed pan sauce. Can't wait to try it on my meat-loving sons!

This was easy and fantastic - the butcher scored, deboned and tied. Very impressive dinner - will definitely make again,

35 min per pound with bone

Made last night for Christmas dinner. Used center cut loin roast (what the grocery store had) and followed suggestion to cook to 140 degrees at 350 (after 30 minutes at 450). Marinated over 24 hours in rub - will continue to do that. Made gravy with drippings, flour, some honey and white wine. Was delicious (moist, flavorful, tender) and easy! Next time would like to try the pork shoulder as suspect would be quite different in texture.

I'm based in Europe and I've read conflicting things online about American recipes and oven temperatures. Could someone tell me what NYT Cooking assumes about someone's oven? Is this a fan temperature or no fan? Is there bottom heat only or top and bottom? Thanks!

So if I bought it as a pre-tied boneless roast, should I undo it, rub the paste all over and then tie it back in a roll, or should I just rub the paste on the outside like for a bone-in roast?

Totally delicious, moist, yummy. Easy no hands. Doubled rub.

Would letting it rest in the refrigerator uncovered (rather than wrapped in a bowl) result in a crispier crust/skin? I might have to try that.