Porchetta Panino Italian Sandwich
The porchetta panino is a quintessential Italian street food sandwich featuring thick slices of herb-crusted slow-roasted pork with crackling skin stuffed into a crusty ciabatta roll. It is sold from roadside vans across central Italy and represents the very soul of Italian rustic cooking at its most glorious.
An Italian street food sandwich packed with herb-crusted roast pork and crunchy crackling in a ciabatta roll.
Nutrition per serving
Ingredients
Protein
Bread
Herbs
Aromatics
Spices
Cooking
Instructions
Prepare the Herb Rub and Stuff the Pork
Mix together the rosemary, minced garlic, fennel seeds, olive oil, salt, and black pepper to form a fragrant paste. Lay the pork belly skin-side down and spread the herb paste evenly across the entire inner surface. Roll the belly tightly into a log and tie firmly with kitchen twine at 3 centimeter intervals.
Roast the Porchetta
Rub the outside of the rolled pork generously with salt and place on a wire rack over a roasting pan. Roast in the oven at 150 degrees Celsius for 2.5 hours until the interior is fully cooked and tender. Then increase the temperature to 240 degrees Celsius and roast for a final 20 minutes to blister and crackle the skin.
Rest and Slice
Remove the porchetta from the oven and let it rest uncovered for at least 15 minutes before slicing. This resting period allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat so every slice is moist and flavorful. Cut into thick rounds or slices.
Build the Panino
Slice the ciabatta rolls in half and optionally warm them briefly in the oven. Layer thick slices of porchetta with pieces of crackling skin on the bottom half of each roll. Add a small amount of cooking juices drizzled over the meat if available. Press the top half on and serve immediately.
Substitutions
Common mistakes
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