Recipe: Porchetta, Supplì and Cacio e Pepe
Today - we're taking our very own 'Roman Holiday' as we have a 'rendez-vous' with authentic Italian Porchetta, plus ‘Supplì’ - Risotto Croquettes and Spaghetti 'Cacio e Pepe'. All these recipes come from Chef Alessandro Toglia, he started his culinary journey with a restaurant in his hometown of Rome and now runs food truck 'Porchettoni', based in St. Petersburg.
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Porchetta
Ingredients
- 9-11 lb pork belly, skin on
- 7-9 lb pork loin
- dried minced garlic (as needed)
- fresh or dry chopped rosemary (as needed)
- plenty of ground black pepper
- salt
Directions
Clean pork belly and loin thoroughly.
For belly: make small incisions then season generously with salt, black pepper, garlic, and rosemary, covering the whole belly.
Place loin in center of opened pork belly then roll pork belly around loin to create a single piece.
Tie together with kitchen twine.
Make holes in pork belly skin to allow excess fat to escape during cooking.
Place directly onto rack in oven preheated to 400 °F for 3 ½ - 4 hours, placing a pan half-filled with water on the rack below to catch any excess fat and prevent burning.
Let rest before serving.
It’s a pretty long procedure, but once done, it lasts up to 10 days in fridge.
Supplì (Risotto Croquettes)
Ingredients
- ½ lb bacon (preferably thick)
- ½ glass white wine
- 200 ml tomato puree
- salt, as needed
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 7 oz arborio rice
- 7 oz butter
- ½ lb grated pecorino romano cheese
- 7 - 8 oz fresh mozzarella
- frying oil
- ½ lb breadcrumbs
Directions
In frying pan, add chopped bacon, and ‘sweat’ over low heat until golden and fat is melted.
Add white wine and let alcohol evaporate.
Add can of tomato puree.
Add salt and black pepper.
Stir at low heat.
Once sauce is reduced, add arborio rice to pan.
In separate pan, boil water to add to sauce.
Stir rice continuously for about 15 minutes at low heat, adding more hot water from other pan if rice gets too dry.
After 15 minutes, rice should be slightly undercooked. If not, add more hot water.
Turn off heat, add butter, pecorino romano cheese, and stir pan until everything is mixed in.
Pour rice into large sheet pan to let rice cool off rapidly. Place tray in refrigerator for about 2 hours so rice becomes compact.
In large bowl, add breadcrumbs.
Slice mozzarella into cubes or strips.
With hand, get quantity of cooled rice (it has to fill hand) and compact it as you would do with meatballs.
With finger, make hole in rice ball and insert mozzarella.
Shape rice like football ball to cover mozzarella, then roll in breadcrumbs to cover completely.
Put rice ball in hot oil for 5-6 minutes at 300 °F.
Remove rice ball from fryer and let rest for about 2 minutes before eating.
Spaghetti ‘Cacio e Pepe’
Ingredients
- 8 oz spaghetti
- 3 oz butter
- salt, to taste
- 8 oz grated pecorino romano cheese
- ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Bring water to boil in large pot, covered.
Once water boils, add spaghetti and let cook, removing from heat at least 2 minutes earlier than directions on box.
Add butter and cooked spaghetti to hot frying pan.
Toss spaghetti, adding a ladle of pasta water, for 2 -3 minutes.
Remove frying pan from heat.
Add pecorino little by little to spaghetti while stirring, adding more pasta water as needed until you get a creamy sauce.
Once sauce is to desired consistency, add black pepper and stir again.
Plate pasta and top with more pecorino and black pepper.
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