Home made “Prosciutto Cotto”Prepare:

Pork thigh about 4/5 kg - castrated male ( no boar taint), or gilt (no sow)

Assorted spices and herbs

Saltpeter

Sugar

Vegetables

The process to make the “Prosciutto Cotto” at home requires plenty of time and attention.

The meat must be of the highest quality: this way only you can make a product tasty, healthy, with good texture and balanced flavor.

Obtain :

A thigh of pork of 4-5 kg : debone the thigh, leaving the rind intact and trim it along the top edge and the deboning cut margins, to get a nice shape, and keep refrigerated at 4°Celsius.

Saltpeter. Spices : mace, garlic powder, powdered sage, juniper, fennel seeds, nutmeg, rosemary,

allspice powder, peppercorns, one or two nails cloves, coriander and cinnamon. The amount of each should vary between six-ten grams, according to your personal taste.

Vegetables for the broth: one big carrot, one white onion and a stalk of celery.

Prepare the brine with:

A bay leaf.

Some diced vegetables like carrot, onion and celery.

A mixture of assorted spices, as above fllowing your taste.

Salt: 140 grams per liter of broth.

Sugar 18 g per liter of broth

Saltpeter 2 g per liter of broth.

Bring to the boil.

Add the prepared mix of spices, herbs and flavorings.

Let boil longer to obtain a particularly flavorful and aromatic broth.

Turn off the flame, cover with a lid and let it cool.

Filter the cooled broth through a muslin bag

Put it in the fridge to cool .

Final preparation.

When cold, pour it in a big heavy poliethylene bag and put the meat inside the bag to get the whole piece floating, submerged in the broth. Close the bag.

Let rest in the refrigerator for a whole 24 hours; extract the meat, place it on a cutting board and apply a vigorous massage to allow all the flavours to deeply penetrate into the fibres of the meat: this will allow a tastier final product.

Put the meat again in the brine bag and put it back in the fridge.

Repeat the whole process every 24 hours for 8/10 days.

When the brinig process is over, remove the meat from the brine and pat it dry.

The thigh should now be wrapped in vegetable cooking paper (or oven paper) and placed into a mold to fit and take the proper shape. The loosen cooking liquid has to remain in contact with the meat, and has not to be dispersed, since it makes the prosciutto to remain soft and juicy.

Place the mold in a ventilated steam oven, at the temperature 80 degrees Celsius for 6 hours.

The heart of the thigh should not exceed 68 degrees Celsius: check with a meat thermometer.

Take the mold out from oven, let the prosciutto cool in the mold then remove from it.

Wrap it in plastic foil and put it in the fridge for at least 2 days.

Ready to taste, enjoy!