Porchetta Pork Roast Stuffed With Gnocchi And Ground Beef

Porchetta is a delicious traditional Italian way to serve pork roast. Usually stuffed with herbs and meat then rolled up, porchetta is great dish if you want moist, juicy pork with all of the best seasonings. For our version of porchetta, we're taking tender pork belly, marinating it in homemade broth, then rolling it up with a special seasoning blend, homemade gnocchi dough, ground beef, and pickled red onions. You'll end up with a whole Italian feast in every bite!

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 5 hours
Difficulty Level: Medium

You'll Need:

For the pork belly & broth:

• ½ pork belly (approx. 10 lbs)
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• ¼ cup fennel seeds
• ¼ cup juniper berries
• ¼ cup peppercorns
• 3 tbsp thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 gallon water

For the gnocchi dough:

• 1 lb potatoes, cooked
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup semolina flour
• 2 egg yolks
• salt & pepper to taste

For the pickled red onions:

• 3 red onions, sliced
• vinegar

For the seasoning blend:

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup chopped rosemary
• ¼ cup chopped thyme
• 3 tbsp chopped sage

For the filling

• seasoning blend
• 2 lbs ground beef
• pickled red onions
• sea salt to taste

Here's How:

1. For the homemade broth, bring the water to a boil, then add in the minced garlic, fennel seeds, juniper berries, bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme. Let everything simmer for 10 minutes, the take the broth off of the heat and let it cool down to room temperature. Score the pork belly on the fatty side in a lattice pattern. Place the pork belly in the homemade broth and let it marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator. For the pickled red onions, slice the onions, place them in a jar, and submerge them in vinegar. Seal the jar shut and transfer it to the refrigerator.

2. For the gnocchi dough, peel and cook the potatoes until tender, drain them, and mash them with a potato ricer or masher. Stir in the flour, semolina flour, egg yolks, salt & pepper until combined. Let the dough rest for 1 hour, then transfer it to a piping bag. Preheat the oven to 350°F and mix together the spices for the seasoning blend. Remove the pork belly from the broth and dry off both sides. Lay the pork belly on your work surface with the fatty side facing down, sprinkle with sea salt and the seasoning blend, and massage the seasoning blend into the meat.

3. Cover the surface of pork belly with ground beef, pushing it down firmly so that it stays in place. Remove the pickled red onions from the fridge and layer them on top of the ground beef. Pipe a thick strip of gnocchi dough down the center of the pork belly.

4. Press the two ends of the pork belly together and transfer it to a baking pan. 

5. Secure the ends together using a trussing needle and cooking twine.

6. Place a baking rack over a baking tray. Once the ends of the pork belly are secured together, remove the porchetta from the baking pan and flip it over onto the baking rack so that the sewn side is facing down. Transfer the baking tray to the oven and bake the porchetta at 350°F for 4 hours.

Once you pop this delicious aromatic porchetta pork roast out of the oven and take your first bite of tender, juicy meat, you'll forget all about traditional pork roasts for good!