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The Sandwich 100 · make it at home

Porchetta (roast pork) sandwich

5 hr (40 min hands-on), plus overnight · About 10 sandwiches

Pork belly rolled around herbs, garlic and fennel, roasted until the skin crackles, sliced thick into a crusty roll. The same idea runs from Rome's porchetta to Philadelphia's roast pork with provolone and greens.

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The real one

You need

• 2 kg (4 1/2 lb) skin-on boneless pork belly
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp chopped rosemary, 1 tbsp chopped sage
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Salt (about 1 1/2 tbsp)
• 10 crusty rolls (ciriola, ciabatta or seeded Italian)
• For Philly style: sharp provolone, broccoli rabe or spinach sautéed with garlic, the pan juices

How to make it

1. Season (15 min, then overnight): Lay the belly skin side down and score the meat side in a crosshatch. Rub in the fennel, pepper, chili, garlic, herbs, zest and 1 tbsp salt. Roll it up tightly (skin outside) and tie with string every 3 cm. Pat the skin dry, rub with salt, and refrigerate uncovered overnight to dry the skin.
2. Slow roast (3 1/2 hr): Heat the oven to 150 C (300 F). Roast on a rack in a pan until it reaches 85 C (185 F) inside, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Add a cup of water to the pan halfway so the juices don't burn.
3. Crackle (20 to 30 min): Turn the oven to 240 C (465 F) and roast until the skin puffs, blisters and crackles all over, 20 to 30 minutes. Watch it; turn the pan if one side darkens fast.
4. Rest (20 min): Rest 20 minutes, then cut off the string and slice 1 cm (1/2 in) thick with a serrated knife.
5. Build: Split the rolls and fill with a few slices and some broken crackling, salted. For Philly roast pork, add provolone and garlicky greens and spoon the pan juices over.

Tips

• The drying overnight is what gets the crackling; don't cover it.
• Leftovers make the best fried-rice or hash you'll eat this year.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any shop's recipe.