In a Hurry, Cheap Eats
La Tenuta Rocchetta, a farm near the ancient Greek temple ruins of Selinunte on the southern coast of Sicily, produces some of Italy’s best olive oil. What makes owner Pierluigi Crescimanno’s oil so special, besides the superior olives, is the attention he pays to every detail of the production. Once when the harvest crush was winding down, my friend the Italian food writer Faith Willinger brought me to the farm to visit the orchards and partake of the annual family feast. First came Pierluigi’s mama’s legendary chickpea soup, drizzled with the freshly pressed and yet-to-be bottled oil, then plates of pasta, and finally platters of grilled pork from the family’s prized pigs.
Every dish was delicious, but what stayed with me were the large scallions wrapped in fresh bacon, seasoned with local herbs, and basted with the freshly pressed oil. Since pork belly is rich, serve these skewers as part of a mixed grill, along with chops or kebabs of lean pork seasoned with the same rub used on the belly or as an appetizer. Make sure to get the thickest scallions you can find—½ inch is ideal. Look
for new-harvest extra-virgin olive oil to brush on the kebabs as well.
SERVES: 6 as part of a mixed grill or as an appetizer
INGREDIENTS:
FENNEL AND HERB RUB
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 2 teaspoons fennel pollen (see Sources) or ground fennel seeds
- 12 large scallions, trimmed to 8 inches long
- 12 ⅛-inch-thick slices skinless pork belly
- Good extra-virgin olive oil
- Wooden skewers, soaked in warm water for at least 30 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Rub: Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Set up a charcoal or gas grill for medium-high heat (see [>] for more on grilling).
- Starting at the root end of each scallion, wrap a slice of pork belly around the scallion to resemble a barber’s pole. Secure with skewers at both ends. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle generously with the rub. (Save any extra rub to season kebabs or pork chops.)
- Grill, turning frequently, until the belly begins to brown nicely, moving the scallions to the cool parts of the grill if flare-ups occur.
- Remove from the grill, brush again with olive oil, and serve immediately.
ALTERNATIVE CUTS:
- Thick slices of pancetta or smoked bacon, but omit the salt from the rub recipe.
COOK’S NOTES:
- Fresh pork belly from the heirloom breeds Duroc or Tamworth is particularly good because it is relatively lean and not too chewy.
- If you can get a bottle of unfiltered olio nuovo, the current year’s freshly harvested and pressed olive oil from Italian olives, all the better. This fresh, new pressing is an experience not to be missed (for La Tenuta Rocchetta olive oil, see Sources).
GROUND PORK, CHOPPED PORK, AND PORK SAUSAGES:
- You can purchase pork already ground, but the best cut for grinding, chopping, or shredding is the Boston butt (pork shoulder butt).
- Adding herbs, spices, and other flavorings to ground pork turns it into a sausage mixture to be used as is or to stuff into a casing.
- Details for grinding pork and making your own sausages can be found in the next chapter ([>]).
- Sausage mixtures are packed with flavor, so they’re a logical and delicious component of pasta dishes and stuffing.
- Ground pork is used as the basis for a filling in the many varieties of Asian and Eastern European dumplings (see Pork and Apple Dumplings, [>]).
- Coarsely chopped, diced, or shredded pork can also be used as a foundation for rustic ragus to serve over pasta or for Hispanic dishes such as green chile stews and chili Colorado.
