Start by taking a large enough dish and placing our pork belly in. Add generous amounts of salt (about 75g) and sugar (about 50g) to both sides of the pork belly, rubbing it well, covering it with a plastic wrap and refrigerating overnight or even better for 24 hours. Next day we unwrap the pork belly and rinse off with cold water all the salt and sugar. Pat dry with paper towels, place on a working bench lined with foil and score the meat side of the pork belly with a tip of a sharp knife every 2-3 cm. Keep aside.

We cook the mushrooms by placing a sauté pan on high heat and when sizzling hot we add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Wait for the 30” and add the mushroom bits. Allow to brown a bit and then start sautéing while tossing frequently for 3’. Then add the chopped onion and thyme. Season with ½ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of pepper, toss and add the parsley. Mix and remove from the heat. Keep aside.

In the meantime, we turn the oven to 130˚C, air circulation and rack set in the middle.

Add the fennel to a bowl filled with 75g of salt. Mix well and keep aside.

Add to the bowl of the food processor, metal blade attached, the pancetta, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, rosemary, lemon and orange zests, garlic, chili flakes, capers, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of black pepper. Pulse and blend until a nice paste is created. Spread the paste evenly over the scored meat side of the pork belly.

Next, place the mushroom mixture on the flesh side of the pork belly that has been already spread with the pancetta paste. The mushroom mixture should be restricted to the centre of the pork belly.

On the same working bench arrange kitchen twine, 8-10 pieces, spread about 3 cm from each other. Roll the pork belly tightly and place it on the twine pieces with the seam side down.

We tie the pork belly starting with the twines in the middle and tightly around the rolled pork belly. We continue tying the rest working from the centre to the sides. Then we take the mixture of the fennel and salt and rub it on the outside of the roll. Cover the ends of the roll with aluminium foil and secure with toothpicks.

Take on oven-proof baking dish with a wire rack on, add the sprigs of rosemary at the bottom and place the roll on the rack, seam side down. Insert a thermometer probe on the middle of the roll and place in the preheated oven. Cook for about 3 hours for a 3kg pork belly or 4-4½ hours for a larger pork belly, aiming for an internal temperature of 65˚C.

When the temperature of 65˚C is reached we increase the oven temperature to 225˚C and cook for 30’ more aiming for the skin to blister and get crispy.

When ready, place the Porchetta on a carving board, cover with foil and allow to rest for 15’. We then cut the twines with a sharp knife or scissors and slice thickly.