- 1 cup chopped pancetta or bacon
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dry red wine
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 3-pound boneless pork loin
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
- 2 fennel bulbs, tops trimmed, bulbs cut into thin wedges
- Lemon wedges
- Blend first 8 ingredients in processor until mixture is finely chopped.
- Using tip of small sharp knife, make about twenty 1 1/2-inch-deep incisions all over pork loin. Press 1 generous teaspoonful of pancetta paste into each incision. Rub remaining paste over outside of pork. Arrange bay leaves in bottom of roasting pan. Place pork loin atop bay leaves. Cover; let pork stand at room temperature 2 hours or refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Sprinkle pork with salt. Roast 45 minutes. Pour 1 1/2 cups stock into pan. Continue to roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 155°F, adding more stock if it evaporates and basting pork with juices occasionally, about 45 minutes longer.
- Transfer pork to cutting board. Discard bay leaves. Transfer pan juices to small saucepan. Skim fat from top of juices; boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Cut pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Transfer to platter. Pour juices over. Surround with fennel and lemon wedges (squeeze lemon over fennel at table).