Best Italian Porchetta Shredded Pork Sandwich Recipes

PORCHETTA (AUTHENTIC ITALIAN PORK ROAST)

Steps:

• Open the piece of pork onto the butcher paper or clean countertop, skin side down.
• Sprinkle generously with the salt, then work the salt into the pork.
• Next, add the rosemary. We used fresh rosemary as I have a bush in my garden. Rub it and crush it between your fingers to release the oils.Add the freshly ground black pepper all over the porchetta. Now add the fennel pollen. Sprinkle evenly over the pork, but save a little of the pollen for after the porchetta has been rolled.
• Roll it tightly, but as you roll it, sprinkly some salt onto the unseasoned pork. Continue rolling until you reach the end.
• Keeping the seam side down, start tying the pork. Another pair of hands will make this part immensely easier. There's no need for fancy ties or sailors' knots, just wrap, double knot and cut.
• Repeat every few inches. The goal is only to keep the porchetta closed, so don't tie it too tightly, either. As you can see, ours is far from perfect, but unless you're serving the Queen of England, it won't matter.
• Turn the roast seam side up and add more seasonings, including the rest of the fennel pollen to the non-skin parts of the pork which are exposed (including the ends).
• Place seam side down on a rack on a roasting pan or baking tray. Cover the ends with aluminum foil and secure with toothpicks.
• Drizzle with olive oil and rub all over the skin with your hands. Sprinkle with more salt and rosemary.
• Preheat the oven to 400˚F (200˚C).
• Place in the hot oven when it comes to temperature and roast for 1 hour, then lower the temperature to 350°F (170°C) and continue to cook for about another 2 hours. Check the center of the roast when it reaches 170°F (76°C) remove from the oven. Take the foil off the ends and place on top of the porchetta, and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.
• Using a sharp knife, remove one or two of the pieces of twine. Cut into slices and serve on crusty Italian rolls, or bread, Italian style!

ITALIAN PORK SANDWICH WITH BROCCOLI RABE AND SHARP PROVOLONE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and a grill pan over medium-high heat.
• Sprinkle the pork tenderloin generously with salt. Coat the preheated grill pan with oil. Sear the tenderloin on all sides until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 145 F, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 to 7 minutes. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
• Toast the rolls, cut side-down, on the grill pan allowing the bread to crisp up and soak up the flavor from the pork. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the mayonnaise, Parmesan, Calabrian chiles and vinegar in a small bowl.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with salted water and ice. Add the broccoli rabe to the boiling water and cook until just tender, about 1 minute. Remove from boiling water and drop immediately into the ice bath. Once cool, remove, drain and roughly chop.
• Coat a large skillet with oil and heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until just soft, about 1 minute. Add the broccoli rabe, season with salt and saute until heated through.
• Build the sandwiches: Spread the mayonnaise-chile mixture on the toasted sides of a roll. Top the bottom of the roll with half the pork, broccoli rabe and provolone cheese. Top with top piece of the roll and transfer to a baking tray. Build the second sandwich with the remaining ingredients. Bake just until cheese melts, about 3 minutes.
• Slice each sandwich in half and serve!

ITALIAN PORK SANDWICHES (DINIC'S COPYCAT PHILLY PORK SANDWICH)

Steps:

• Marinate the meat the night before. If needed, trim the skin off of the pork shoulder while you're butterflying it, but don't trim away the fat cap on top. We used a 4-pound piece off of a larger cut, so we also had a small bone to butterfly around.
• Sprinkle evenly all over with salt (to avoid oversalting, sprinkle it from a height above the meat so it spreads evenly without needing to use a ton). Combine 1½ tablespoons ground fennel seeds, 1½ tablespoons dried thyme, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, and 1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary leaves. Generously rub the meat all over with this seasoning. Next, stir together the 3 tablespoons of minced parsley and the minced garlic. Spread the majority on the inner parts of the butterflied pork shoulder, and distribute the rest on the top.
• Rebundle the pork shoulder so it is in a relatively tight roll. Place in a roasting pan, and surround with the thinly sliced onion. Drizzle a little olive oil over the onions. Refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, take your pork out of the refrigerator early (about 2 hours before you're ready to roast) to come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and one in the upper third.
• You're going to roast the pork and the peppers simultaneously, so wash the peppers, pat them dry, and cut them all lengthwise and deseed them (If you like your long hots really hot, skip that step!) Toss in olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Lay out evenly on a baking sheet.
• Place the roast in the lower third of the oven, and the peppers on the rack in the upper third. Roast at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes. (Depending on how hot your oven runs, you may want to check them at the 20-25 minute mark.) Remove the peppers from the oven and set them aside. Later, you can reheat the peppers by stirring them into the hot pulled pork to rewarm them, or by putting them back in the oven in the final stretch of cooking.
• Also take the pork out of the oven at this step, and add the stock, wine, tomatoes, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook for another 15 minutes at 450 degrees F, and then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Continue roasting the pork for 2 hours.
• Carefully remove the foil (you'll be putting it back on). Using a sharp carving knife, cut the roast into large chunks, laying them flat in the braising liquid. Re-cover with foil and cook for another 2 to 2 ½ hours, until the pork is fork tender.
• A little while before you take your pork out of the oven, it's time to prepare your broccoli rabe. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add ¼ cup of olive oil and 7 cloves chopped garlic. Let the garlic brown lightly, and add the crushed red pepper flakes, followed by the chopped broccoli rabe. Cook until wilted, and then lower the heat if needed to cook until tender--you don't want the stems to be crunchy!
• Remove the pork from the oven. Discard the bay leaves. Pull the pork in the pan with two forks, mixing everything in the juices.
• Stir in your reserved roasted peppers to rewarm them. Alternatively, you could reheat them in the oven in the last 10-15 minutes of roasting.
• To build each sandwich, grab your Italian bread/rolls, and slice them lengthwise. Lay down a healthy bed of sharp provolone slices (we went with sharp provolone from the deli counter, but if you really want to be authentic to the OG sandwich, get a wedge of super sharp provolone and cut it into rough, thick shavings), and toast to melt the cheese. Top with a generous, drippy helping of pulled pork. Spoon over the broccoli rabe, and nestle a few pieces of long green hot pepper and bell pepper inside. Top off with pepperoncini slices if desired, and eat immediately!

ITALIAN PORCHETTA SANDWICH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• For the herb rub: Add the garlic, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the oregano, rosemary and thyme and pulse into a rustic paste. Season with salt. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the rub for the mayonnaise spread.
• For the pork: Lay the pork belly on a cutting board, skin-side-up, and score the skin at 1-inch intervals, 1/2-inch deep with a sharp knife. Rotate the pork 90 degrees and score the skin again, to create a diamond pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt; be sure to get into all the crevices. Flip the pork over, sprinkle generously with salt, then rub the meat side with the herb rub. Roll the pork belly up as tightly as possible and tie it crosswise with butcher's twine at 2-inch intervals.
• Place the pork in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Pour 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the pan. Roast the pork to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Check periodically to ensure there is still some liquid in the bottom of the pan and add a little water to prevent scorching. Baste the pork belly with pan drippings a couple of times during cooking.
• Once the pork reaches 150 degrees F, raise the oven to 475 degrees F and continue roasting until the skin is super crispy, 30 to 40 minutes. For even browning, flip the pork halfway through the second roasting period.
• Transfer the porchetta to a cutting board and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the rack from the roasting pan and pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the pan drippings. Set the roasting pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the mayonnaise spread: Mix together the mayonnaise, capers, parsley, lemon zest and juice and the reserved herb rub. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cut the porchetta into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
• To assemble the sandwich: Slather both halves of a ciabatta roll with mayonnaise spread. Layer the bottom half with slices of porchetta and top with caramelized onions and arugula.

PORCHETTA - ITALIAN MARKETPLACE SLOW ROAST PULLED PORK SANDWICH

Steps:

• Lay the pork on a large chopping board and cover with cling film. With a rolling pin, mallet, or other suitable blunt object, pound the meat as close to an even 1" thickness that you can manage.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high. Add all of the chopped onion, half the minced garlic, half the fennel seeds, all of the rosemary and bay, half of the ground cloves, salt and pepper, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until all the fragrance has been released from the herbs and spices. Transfer to a plate to cool.
• Spread and rub this mixture over and into the pork, then roll the meat up as tightly and neatly as you can. Tie with kitchen string at intervals.
• Mix the remaining ingredients (minced garlic, fennel seeds, ground cloves, olive oil) and rub it over the outside of the pork. Cover it with cling film and refrigerate 24 hours, or at least overnight.
• Remove the meat 40 minutes before cooking to allow it to return to room temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C/300F Take the cling film off the pork and place the pork joint in to a roasting tin.
• Cook the pork for 4 hours to 5 hours, until it is falling apart when you test it with a knife or fork. If the spices on the surface start to char too badly (a little blackness is a good thing), tent foil loosely over the roast. (I find I need to cover it for the last hour of cooking.).
• CROCK POT - at this stage, cook the pork in a crock pot for 4 to 5 hours on high, or on automatic for up to 8 hours.
• Remove from the oven and leave to rest at least 30 minutes to one hour. Slice, pull or shred the meat and serve in warmed ciabatta rolls.

ITALIAN PULLED PORK SANDWICHES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the fennel seed, steak seasoning and cayenne if desired. Cut roast in half. Rub seasoning mixture over pork. In a large skillet, brown roast in oil on all sides. Place in a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Add the peppers, onions and tomatoes; cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or until meat is tender., Remove roast; cool slightly. Skim fat from cooking juices. Shred pork with 2 forks and return to slow cooker; heat through. Using a slotted spoon, place 1/2 cup meat mixture on each bun.

ITALIAN PORCHETTA (SHREDDED PORK) SANDWICH RECIPE

Steps:

• 1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onion, rosemary, bay leaf, salt, pepper, half of the garlic, half the cloves, and half of the fennel in two tbsp. of the olive oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool. 2. While mixture cools, pound your piece of pork into a large, even, 1-inch-thick piece with a meat mallet. The more square the piece, the easier it will be to work with. Place meat on a large piece of plastic wrap. 3. Rub onion mixture into the surface of your pork, working it into the meat a bit. 4. Roll the meat into a tight spiral, tying it closed with kitchen string. If you roll it too loosely, the meat will dry out so do this carefully. 5. In a small bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, cloves, garlic, and fennel with a fork. 6. Rub oil mixture into the outside of the pork, working it gently into the meat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge about 24 hours. 7. When you're ready to cook, take the pork out of the fridge to allow the meat to come to room temperature. 8. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 9. Unwrap and place your rolled, tied pork into a roasting pan. 10. Cook pork until it's fall-apart tender. This should take 4-5 hours. During the last hour or so of cooking, cover the meat lightly with a tented piece of foil. 11. Remove meat from the oven and let it rest about an hour. 12. Serve on crusty Italian rolls and allow guests to choose their own toppings.

PORCHETTA SANDWICH

Steps:

• Make the salsa verde: In a medium bowl, mix together shallot, parsley, chives, vinegar, oregano, and salt; whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Stir in mustard and lemon juice; set aside.
• Make the sandwich: Cover split sides of rolls with salsa verde. Place 3 porchetta slices and some of the crackling on one half of each of the rolls; top with arugula and sandwich together with remaining roll half; serve.

PORCHETTA - ITALIAN MARKETPLACE PULLED PORK SANDWICH (CROCK POT)

Steps:

• Rub the roast all over with the olive oil, then rub with the seasonings. Place roast in bottom of crock pot, and top with the bay leaves and chopped onion.
• Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then reduce heat to LOW and cook 10-12 hours more until meat is falling apart, yet tender, and done.
• Remove to a large cutting board and let cool slightly, then use two forks to pull apart the meat into chunks, discarding the bay leaves.
• Stuff into warmed and buttered Italian ciabatta rolls, and dig in!