Pancetta Arrotolata is a famous meat product of Italian cuisine. It is a dry-cured pork belly rolled up in the form of a roll. Pancetta is cured in a dry mixture of salt, herbs and spices.
Ingredients:
- Pork belly – 1 kg.
- Salt – 30 gr.
- Curing salt #1 – 2.5 gr.
- Bactoferm Meat Starter Culture – 1 gr.
- Dextrose – 10 gr.
- Dried garlic – 2 tsp
- Smoked paprika – 2 tsp
- Marjoram – 1 tsp
- Coriander – 1 tsp
- Black peppercorns – 1 tsp
- Green peppercorns – 0.5 tsp
- Anise – 0.5 tsp
- Gauze
- Linen twine
Cooking process
1The first step is to prepare the spices. First, fry all the whole spices in a dry skillet. Frying makes the spices more brittle and easier to grind in a mortar afterwards. We also disinfect them, which is very important when preparing dry-cured products.
Put the spices in a mortar and grind them.
We mix salt, curing salt, dextrose, bactoferm starter culture and spices.
Bactoferm are starter cultures for the controlled maturation of raw smoked and dry-cured products. Dextrose – for fast multiplication of starter cultures. Thanks to these additives, meat products are properly ripened and fermented. The maturation and drying processes are also accelerated. And most importantly, starter cultures prevent harmful bacteria from developing. If you plan on occasionally making homemade sausages, I recommend purchasing these healthy additives.
2 Thoroughly rinse the pork belly with cold water and dry it. Next, cut off the skin from it. Rub the pork belly on all sides with our mixture of spices and salt, the so-called dry marinade. Rub with massaging movements.
Place the pork belly in a zip-lock bag. Now you need to send it to the refrigerator for salting for 10 days.
In order for the Pancetta to marinate evenly, it is necessary to take out the brisket every day and massage it from all sides.
3 After 10 days, take the pork belly out of the refrigerator. Wash it and dry it with paper towels. Put it on a plate and again send it to the refrigerator for a day.
4 A day later, we take out the pork belly and roll it up with the meat side inward into a tight roll. Then we take the twine and tie it tightly around the brisket so that it keeps its shape. At the end, wrap it in several layers of gauze.
Before removing the belly to dry, you need to weigh it. Take note of this weight somewhere. Then it will come in handy for assessing the readiness of Pancetta.
Put the belly in the refrigerator for further drying. The refrigerator must be equipped with a No frost function. I dry in the inner door of the refrigerator. Pancetta is considered finished when it has lost 30% of its original weight.
Pancetta Arrotolata is a good snack. It should be served to the table, cut into thin slices
