There are some family recipes that elevated but don’t demand chef-level skills to pull off. This porchetta recipe from George Georgievski’s Tonight’s Dinner, Tomorrow’s Lunchbox is one of them. With its crisp, golden crackling it’s the kind of meal that looks impressive enough for a Sunday lunch or casual entertaining, yet is surprisingly achievable on a weeknight. Especially if you use the air fryer.
Yep, George includes air fryer temps and times because he gets it.
He’s better known as School Lunchbox Dad and his approach to family cooking is all about making every meal work a little harder. So aside from this porchetta recipe being a roast you can have on the table in 30 mins, any leftovers become tomorrow’s lunch with almost no extra effort. Tuck slices into a crusty roll with a spoonful of salsa verde (recipe included below), layer them into a wrap or serve them over salad for a meal that’s every bit as satisfying the second time around.
It’s this clever dinner-tonight, lunch-tomorrow philosophy that makes George’s Tonight’s Dinner, Tomorrow’s Lunchbox such a hit.
Porchetta
Recipe and text from Tonight’s Dinner, Tomorrow’s Lunchbox by George Georgievski
I will never forget the first time I tasted porchetta. I grew up eating pork with just salt and pepper, no other seasoning. But when my friend Francesco gave me a bite of his sandwich, which was loaded with porchetta from his dinner the night before, I tasted the fennel and everything changed. This was my first experience of how flavouring can change our food – I was nine!
This recipe is mostly traditional, with a few subtle changes I have added over the years of making it for my little fam. Forever grateful to Francesco. There are almost limitless options for how to serve the porchetta. I like to ensure it’s the star of the dish and make it a showpiece. I cut half of it into slices around 1½ cm thick, then I pop the slices, sometimes along with the remaining whole roast, on a chopping board surrounded by roast potatoes, veggies and a sauce – salsa verde is perfect – see recipe below.
Don’t stress about leaving the pork in the fridge overnight. Doing this helps the skin dry out, but let’s be real. Most times we don’t know what we’re having for dinner till an hour or so beforehand.
Makes 8 serves
Takes 30 – 60 mins (see ‘cooking options’ at the end of the recipe)
1.5 kg pork loin roast
⅓ cup (80 ml) olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons fennel seeds
10–12 sage leaves
a few sprigs of rosemary
Firstly, don’t cut the strings off the pork loin. Instead, undo the knot and save the strings in their full length. We will reuse them a little later.
Butterfly the pork loin by slicing it lengthways down the middle, stopping just short of cutting all the way through, and then opening it up like a book. Lay it out flat, and brush half the olive oil over the pork, then scatter half the salt over the top, followed by all of the fennel, sage and rosemary.
Roll it up nice and tight so it feels kind of firm, trying not to let the ingredients fall out. Tie it together with kitchen twine and brush the rest of the olive oil over the top, followed by the remaining salt.
Cooking options
Preheat the oven to 190˚C and cook for approx. 50–60 minutes. The best way to see if it’s cooked is to use a thermometer thingy designed for measuring the temperature of meat. We want it to be 65–70˚C.
In an air fryer, cook at 180˚C for 30 minutes, until the meat has an internal temperature of 65–70˚C.
Salsa verde
Bright, punchy and full of zesty freshness, salsa verde is the kind of sauce that can wake up any meal. Made with a handful of vibrant ingredients, it’s a simple yet bold cover-up that brings a burst of flavour to my Italian bánh mì, grilled meats, roasted veggies, or even just a slice of crusty bread.
Unlike in chimichurri, the main hero here is the basil. This is what gives the sauce the authentic Italian vibe. Think of this as your secret weapon in the kitchen, as it’s quick to whip up, endlessly versatile and guaranteed to make everything it touches taste better.
Makes 4 serves
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ cup fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon capers
1 garlic clove juice of ½ lemon
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Blitz the ingredients in a blender and either serve asap to cover up or pop in the fridge.
Images and text from Tonight’s Dinner, Tomorrow’s Lunchbox by George Georgievski, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $29.99
