Kitchen Call: Roasted pork, Tuscan style

Single-digit temperatures will surely stay with us or visit often in the upcoming weeks, as national weather maps read “cold” and “colder.”

A pot of soup simmering on the stove is nice, but we’ve overdone that in the last weeks with all those leftover turkey bones. Something aromatic roasting in the oven instead sends intoxicating aromas through the kitchen fascinating the appetite. Dinnertime can’t get here soon enough.

I’m taking a few columns to explore roasts. But not the turkey and beef we’re tired of after holiday indulgences. Vegetables will join the meats — some usual suspects, others hopefully surprising.

I’m starting in my comfort zone: Mediterranean flavors; a roasted pork from the Tuscan countryside. New Yorkers discovered this a few years ago in restaurants, then in upscale lunch places, and currently, in sandwiches passed through the windows of food trucks. It skipped the home kitchen, because not many are equipped with rotisseries or indoor grills traditionally used for cooking this specialty. But I’ve tried it using a roasting pan equipped with a rack, and I’ve added shortcuts for the busy cook.

To begin, the recipe is a whole lot less daunting, and the prep a whole lot along quicker, if you get the pork loin boned and butterflied at the market. This means the butcher will take out the bone and cut the roast so it opens like a book and lies flat on the countertop. This is a special request at the meat counter. Butterflied roasts are never neatly packed in plastic in the case. Note: They will roll the roast back to its original shape and retie it with string.

Then, there’s the question of brining. My family members are not brining fans dating back to a brined Thanksgiving turkey that turned out dry and awful in every imaginable way. The recipe here includes brining ingredients and directions for anyone so inclined. If you do brine, I’d suggest a shorter, rather than a longer, time in the brine.

Next, the ingredients: pancetta and fennel, not typically hanging around your kitchen. Pancetta is the Italian version of bacon, once only available at specialty markets but now more widely available at deli counters. If you can’t find it in your community, substitute bacon. Make sure it’s the good stuff, lean and thickly cut. Fennel looks like a head of celery with a much rounder bulb and feathery leaves on top. Both parts find a place in this recipe. Save the stalks for soup or salad.

So what tastes good with this? While the oven is blasting away, I add my grandmother’s recipe for roasted potatoes. Since each calls for a different roasting temperature and time, I cook the potatoes first. Then put the roast in the oven. When the roast is 10 minutes away from being done, I add the potatoes to the pan. They heat and take on some of the pork’s rich flavors.

Roasted Pork, from the Tuscan Countryside

This is equally delicious hot, warm, or at room temperature. I have not tried the brine, but a series of cooks swear by it. The roast should weigh 3 pounds without the bone. Makes six to eight servings.

Ingredients: 3-pound boneless pork loin, butterflied

If you decide on brining: 6 tablespoons kosher salt 1/4 cup light brown sugar 3 cloves garlic, pressed down to release juices 2 branches rosemary 2 branches sage 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds Fronds from 1 bulb fennel

Combine salt, sugar, garlic, herbs, fennel seed and fennel fronds, and 2 cups water in a large saucepan over high heat. Simmer, stirring, until salt and sugar dissolve. Add 6 cups water and cool to room temperature. Place pork, still rolled, in a large container; pour the brine over it. (Add more water if the brine does not cover the pork.) Cover and refrigerate from 4 hours to overnight. (I strongly suggest the shorter time.) Take the pork out of the brine and shake off the seasonings.

Stuffing and roasting the pork: 1/2 pound pancetta, thinly sliced, divided 5 medium garlic cloves, peeled 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves 1 small bulb fennel Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1. Chop half the pancetta. Finely chop together garlic, herb leaves, fennel, salt, pepper. Heat half the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and the herb mixture and cook, stirring, until the garlic and fennel have softened. Set aside to cool.

2. Remove pork from the brine, if using. Unroll it so that the butterflied roast lies flat on the countertop. Cover the pork with the pancetta-herb mixture, leaving an inch around the edges. Re-roll the meat like a jelly roll and tie with kitchen string. Wrap it with the remaining pancetta slices.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Sear the pork on all sides. Transfer to the rack of a roasting pan. Cook, turning once, for 30 to 40 minutes, until it measures 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

5. Remove the pancetta wrapping the pork and chop it while the roast rests for 5 to 7 minutes. Slice and transfer to a serving platter. Scatter the chopped pancetta over it.

Noni’s Roasted Potatoes

Based on my grandmother’s recipe; makes six servings.

Ingredients: 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled 1/4 cup olive oil Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper 2 or 3 branches fresh rosemary, broken into pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 4 to 6 wedges depending on their size. 3. Whisk together the olive oil, salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Add the potatoes and toss to coat with the mixture. Turn them onto a rimmed sheet pan that will hold them in a single layer. (You may need two sheet pans.) 4. Transfer to the oven immediately turning the heat down to 400 degrees. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, taking them out of the oven to turn once or twice. Roast another 30 minutes until golden brown all over.

Linda Bassett is the author of “From Apple Pie to Pad Thai: Neighborhood Cooking North of Boston.” Reach her by email at KitchenCall@aol.com. Read Linda’s blog at LindABCooks.wordpress.com. Follow Linda for quick recipes on Twitter at @KitchenCall.