I have been dreaming about making Porchetta like the one from Vancouver’s Meat & Bread (an amazingly good sandwich shop), but before I bought all the ingredients, I wanted to test this recipe first. After modifying it a bit for a small pork loin, I can happily say the seasoning is definitely similar to Meat & Bread’s, and with crackling and all, this would be pretty amazing!
Pork loin rubbed with spices prior to being covered with plastic wrap.
Herb Rubbed Pork Loin
Ingredients
- 0.4 kg pork loin
- 1 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper skip if you don't want it spicy
- 1 1/2 tsp chopped parsley
- 1 clove minced garlic
- Zest of half a lemon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Combine and grind all dry spices.
- Add in fresh herbs, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil.
- Mix by hand or with food processor.
- Rub mixture into surface of pork loin.
- Tightly wrap pork loin in plastic wrap.
- Let sit in refrigerator for at least 1 hour (the longer the better!).
- Remove from fridge when ready to cook.
- Heat oven to 375F.
- While oven is preheating, in a pan on med-high heat (hot enough to sear meat), add oil & once heated, sear each side of the pork loin until browned (about 2 minutes per side).
- Once oven is preheated, place pork loin on baking dish, cooking until internal temperature reaches 145F. (Can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the size of your pork loin). I would check temperature at 20 minutes to check progress (mine took about 20 minutes).
- Allow pork to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
- Cut into slices, drizzle with salsa verde if desired (see recipe link below).
- Serve.
While you don’t have to serve this with the Salsa Verde, it’s a great addition to the pork, and can also be served as an appetizer with bread while your pork is cooking! The salsa verde is also a great addition if you are cooking a fancy meal and wish to dress the pork loin up a bit with some fancy plating (as above).
I really enjoyed this mixture of spices, and will definitely be using it again (not just when I make the porchetta). If you don’t have pork on hand, the spice rub would taste equally great on chicken, steak or lamb (the salsa verde and lamb would be excellent!). If you guys test it out on other meats, I would love to hear how it was!
Enjoy!
Bob