How to Roast a Whole Piglet

The best known Italian roast pig is porchetta: A boned whole pig very well seasoned and spit roasted for hours. It's classic festival food, and a standby at markets and fairs. But unless you're feeding a huge gathering, and have quite a bit of experience managing a fire pit, roasting it's not practical. A piglet is, on the other hand, if you're feeding a large group -- say 20-30 people.

It does take planning, and a large oven, ideally wood-fired, though one could make due with gas or electric if one had to. Francesco Nardi, an old friend, restored the oven the tenant farmers living on the family estate used to use to make bread (and slept in during winter cold snaps, because it took days to cool completely) and now uses it to bake bread, and to roast meats, especially larger cuts.

In this case, Francesco roasted a piglet weighing about 10 kilos, or close to 25 pounds.