Always trying to capture the wonderful aroma and savory taste that memories of my great grandmother’s porchetta evokes, we are constantly on the lookout for somewhere, anywhere, that offers up at least a passable porchetta sandwich. Great examples can be found in Florence, Italy, but that doesn’t do us much good while we live out our lives here in North Texas.
We’ve compiled a list of such offerings here in the Dallas area, but such lists should never be exhaustive or finite, and when we saw “porchetta panino” listed as an option at one of the counters offering freshly made food at Eataly at NorthPark Center, we ventured out to give it a try.
We made our way to the back of the store, walking past all the Italian grocery items, passing by the fresh pasta bar, to the cheese counter, ignoring all the bottles of wine. It was a difficult journey, but we finally made it and ordered the sandwich.
It is described as a panino, but don't expect this to be pressed as in a panini. Turns out panino means small bread. Who know? Not me-nino. The sandwich was served on a good piece of crusty bread about 8 inches long, perhaps slightly toasted
It is a pretty straightforward affair, simply dressed with salsa verde that gave it a slightly pesto-forward flavor — interesting if not the traditional woody rosemary profile that one usually expects. The porchetta is made in-house, and while not piled high the serving side was adequate. The thinly sliced pieces of roasted pork had a good fat-to-lean ratio, and the rosemary was more evident here, but again it was not as pronounced as we would have liked.
It was a pretty good bite, if not spectacular, or the traditional version we were hoping for. The search continues, and we’re OK with that. If you can’t go to Italy, however, Eataly will suffice in a pinch. As a bonus, you can bring home a pound of rigatoni, a chunk of Romano cheese and a bottle of chianti to boot. What’s not to like?
We’ve compiled a list of such offerings here in the Dallas area, but such lists should never be exhaustive or finite, and when we saw “porchetta panino” listed as an option at one of the counters offering freshly made food at Eataly at NorthPark Center, we ventured out to give it a try.
We made our way to the back of the store, walking past all the Italian grocery items, passing by the fresh pasta bar, to the cheese counter, ignoring all the bottles of wine. It was a difficult journey, but we finally made it and ordered the sandwich.
It is described as a panino, but don't expect this to be pressed as in a panini. Turns out panino means small bread. Who know? Not me-nino. The sandwich was served on a good piece of crusty bread about 8 inches long, perhaps slightly toasted
It is a pretty straightforward affair, simply dressed with salsa verde that gave it a slightly pesto-forward flavor — interesting if not the traditional woody rosemary profile that one usually expects. The porchetta is made in-house, and while not piled high the serving side was adequate. The thinly sliced pieces of roasted pork had a good fat-to-lean ratio, and the rosemary was more evident here, but again it was not as pronounced as we would have liked.
It was a pretty good bite, if not spectacular, or the traditional version we were hoping for. The search continues, and we’re OK with that. If you can’t go to Italy, however, Eataly will suffice in a pinch. As a bonus, you can bring home a pound of rigatoni, a chunk of Romano cheese and a bottle of chianti to boot. What’s not to like?
Eataly, 8687 N. Central Expressway, Ste. 2172 (NorthPark Center). Sunday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.
