Species Du Jour: Part 3 (Pork)

Dinner tonight:

DIY Porchetta. 

The one time I ever had porchetta was a few Easters ago when the husband and I had it at Tarry Lodge. I fell in love with it instantly, and to me it was a mystery of sorts. 

Ever since I saw the glorious photo on this site, I decided right then and there, that I needed to make one of these. Granted, it's just me and the husband, so a full on porchetta to serve 20 would be overkill, tasty tasty overkill. Instead, I got about 1.5 lbs of butterflied pork butt, and four slices of rib belly and set about making my own. Note: yes, I know, most porchetta uses pork belly where the skin is attached. As lovely as that is, I cannot bring myself to eat the skin (as lovely delicious as it is, it doesn't offer up much in the way of nutrition). Yes. I've got food guilt about some things. This is one of those things.

Here's the before and after photos.

BEFORE:

Before cooking, this is what my lovely baby looked like. Not-too-shabby trussing job either, given I was in active pain and drunk. This baby is rolled up around some garlic-shallot paste, apple slices, minced up Chinese chives, fresh rosemary and sage, sitting on top of remaining accoutrements and a little puddle of white wine.

Depending on how I feel when I get home from work, this baby could be served with some steamed kabocha squash, gnocchi, or some leftover polenta and pot stuck brussels sprouts from the other day.