Smoked Porchetta

Alton Matthews, Dawgfatha’s BBQ

This isn’t just another pork recipe, this is Smoked Porchetta. Porchetta is a traditional Italian meal that consists of layering pork belly with herbs, spices and other filling, rolling it up, then roasting. Brought to you by Alton Matthews, the Dawgfatha’s BBQ. In this recipe, you’ll learn the ingredients and steps to create the pork belly roll and then smoke it in the YS640. The final result is a juicy, flavor-filled dish that is good as part of a meal or sliced into a sandwich.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Tbs Tuscan garlic
  • Lemon peel
  • Orange peel
  • Oregano
  • Italian seasoning
  • 2 Tbs Granulated garlic
  • 1 Tbs Crushed red pepper
  • Uncle Chris' Seasoning (or your favorite pork rub)
  • 2 Tbs Rosemary
  • 1 Tbs Thyme
  • 2 Tbs Sage
  • 1 cup chopped Basil
  • 1 cup chopped fennel leaves
  • 5 lb Pork belly
  • 1 lb Ground pork sausage
  • 1/2 Chopped onion
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Your favorite rub

INSTRUCTIONS

Start by rough chopping your herbs. You can make them finer if you prefer. Put the herbs in a bowl and loosely mix together. In separate bowl, mix the lemon peel, orange peel, and oregano. Set both aside, you’ll need this in a bit.

Next, heat up some olive oil and add in the ground pork and fresh chopped onions and about 1 tablespoon of crushed red peppers. Add the Tuscan garlic and granulated garlic. Stir it all together and let it brown over medium high heat. Be sure cook until you get to the nice brown color.

Take the pork belly and butterfly it by cutting a seam down the center of the belly. Don’t cut all the way to the end, just enough where you can open it up to make it look like one continuous piece of meat. Open it up, press it flat and score the meat to help the seasoning penetrate the meat.

Start by adding salt and pepper to the meat. Rub the pork belly with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil for a binder, then add the seasoning mixture and lightly rub into the meat. Next, take the bowl of herbs and add that to the meat. Spread the herbs to cover the meat and lightly pat it into the meat.Take the ground pork mixture and add it on top of the herbs and spread it to cover the meat.

Now you’re ready to roll the meat. Starting with the side that is meat only, roll the pork belly up until you get to the end and the fat side is the outer most layer of the roll.

Once it’s fully rolled, take some butcher twine and, starting in the middle, tie around the porchetta to keep everything in place. Place additional ties on either side of the center string until the porchetta is securely bound.

Once tied up, it’s ready to season with your favorite rub. Coat the surface as you would any meat.

Heat up the Yoder Smokers YS640 to 275º. Place the porchetta on the top shelf, plan to cook until you have an internal temperature of 145º

Remove from grill, slice and enjoy!