You can buy prepared porketta in most supermarkets in northern Minnesota and in other parts of the country these days, but it is well worth making your own. I use the porketta recipe from B.J. Carpenter’s “Come, You Taste: Family Recipes From the Iron Range.”
It can be served as a traditional roast, but I like the porketta sliced thin and served on rolls with a slice of mild cheese such as provolone. If you don’t want to tie up your oven for hours, the pork will cook well in a slow cooker, but the meat will be shredded rather than sliced. Porketta is a great dish to serve to folks watching the football game at home, or to bring to a tailgate party to have alongside cold beer.
- 1 (5-pound) pork butt or shoulder roast, boned
- 2 tablespoons kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons fennel seeds, toasted and finely ground in a mortar and pestle or spice mill
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 7 to 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups fresh fennel fronds, minced, or 2 tablespoons dried and crumbled
- Handful of flat Italian parsley leaves, minced
- Optional: Italian hard rolls, mustard, mild cheese such as provolone
Remove roast from refrigerator, unwrap, and place in a roasting pan or slow cooker, seam side down, fat side up; let come to room temperature. If roasting in an oven, preheat to 325 degrees F; if roasting in a slow cooker, let meat rest for 30 to 45 minutes, then place on high. Slow roast for 4 hours in the oven or up to 6 hours in a slow cooker, until the meat shreds easily when pulled with a fork.
Serve warm or at room temperature, either with a side dish or on hard rolls with mustard and/or cheese.