Select a boneless pork shoulder roast. If a butcher is going to specially roll and tie one for you, ask him to trim a little more of the fat off of it then he normally does. If possible, have him put a few fresh cloves of garlic on the inside before it is rolled. This makes the end product even better, but it is not mandatory. Choose a roasting pan with a lid, which is not very much larger than the roast, 2 or 3 inches of space all the way around is a good fit. I like to use 2 to 3 average size cloves of garlic for every pound of meat that I am cooking. So for a 7 pound roast you are probably going to use about 15 to 20 peeled cloves of garlic. Put the roast in the center of the roasting pan, and put the garlic cloves all around it on the bottom of the pan. Take the porchetta spices and either put them in a stainless steel spice ball, or tie them into a piece of cheesecloth. You'll probably want to use about 4 or 5 tablespoons of spice for a 7 pound roast. Before you close up the spice ball or tie off the cheesecloth, make sure that you put one small very hot dry red pepper inside for every two pounds of meat. This will yield a slightly spicy roast pork sandwich, but you can adjust it if you like yours hotter. Put the spice ball on the bottom of the roasting pan alongside the roast. Take a few cups of dry white wine and pour it over top of the spice ball, into the bottom of the pan. Fill the pan with cold water until the roast is about half covered. Most of the spice ball will be submerged in the water now. Put the lid on the pan and put the whole thing in the center of the oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees. After about two hours pull the pan and put it on the top of the stove. Carefully remove the lid so that you don't get burned by the steam. The roast should be getting nice and brown on the top. Turn the roast upside down, put the lid back on and put the pan back in the oven for another two hours. This time when you check it the roast should be about finished. At this point I like to cut the netting or string off of the roast. This allows the entire roast to spread over the bottom of the pan and be submerged in the juices. Sometimes I take a sharp knife and cut the pork into 2 or 3 square inch chunks, or simply break it apart with a spoon and a fork. At this time I season it with salt, and let it finish up like this. If the juice level seems to be too low and you are afraid that you won't have enough for your sandwiches, you can add a few cups of water now and not hurt a thing. The garlic cloves at this point have virtually dissolved into the juice, and when you eat a sandwich you aren't constantly picking Rosemary out of your teeth. Remember the better the bread or rolls are that you start with the better the end result will be. If you don't have a good selection available, buy the best that you can find and improvise. Sometimes just buying the bread a day or two ahead of time, and letting it sit on the counter in a paper bag works. Another method is to put the bread in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes and shut the oven off and let the bread cool in there. Put lots of juice on the roll before you pile on the pork, and top it with some vinegar peppers. |