Porchetta alla Perugina

I've had a few requests for this recipe since I tend to mention it when I am cooking it while online. I won't add it to the recipe contest because I follow the recipe and don't adapt it except using a different cut of meat sometimes.

The recipe is from the book The New Romagnoli's Table by Margaret and G.Franco Romagnoli, put out by The Atlantic Monthly Press. Mine is a paperback from 1988; I got it at either Amazon or Powell's, used. (hint, use a2k way to get to amazon, see the home page.) The whole book is good, not just this recipe.

Porchetta alla Perugina

Intro: "This is an old fashioned way to prepare a nice pork loin. The final taste is very similar to that of the real porchetta, a full-grown pig cooked on a spit over an open fire and then sold in slices at street corner stands. We recommend, as do the Perugini, this recipe as practical for the family kitchen."

Ingredients:
For the battuto: 2-3 fresh sage leaves, 1 sprig rosemary, 2 fresh basil leaves, 1 clove garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon salt, freshly ground pepper

4 - 5 pound pork loin, boned (Osso - I prefer pork shoulder to those long bland loin packages available now, and yesterday I cooked it with the bone in, still good. If you buy one of those long loins, you can use a fish poacher.. )
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil.

Procedure
"Prepare the battuto by mincing all the ingredients together until they are practically a paste. Spread this mixture on the thinner side of the loin (where the bones once were), and then tie the meat up as if it were a sausage, so that the herbs are held tightly inside. (Osso - if you buy one of those packaged loins, cut into it and stuff that, then wrap with string.) Put it in a heavy pot, just big enough to hold the roast, add enough water almost to cover the meat, add 1 teaspoon salt, and put over a low heat.

Cover and bring slowly to a boil, and then uncover and boil slowly until all the liquid has evaporated. (osso - I turn it at least three times; for a 4 lb porchetta this took over two hours at moderate simmer.) Pour on enough olive oil to coat the loin thoroughly, and continue cooking, turning the meat over and over until a good golden crust has formed. Slice and serve."

Let's see, first of all your home will smell good. Secondly, the only hard part was finding string. Grocery stores don't always have it, I had to go to the drug store to find string. Next, I tend to add more garlic, what could it hurt? When I did the pork shoulder yesterday, I sliced deep along the bone and stuffed the battuto in there all along the bone length. The timing didn't change.