I had my trusted butcher prepare the pork loin and he also tied the piece of meat.

Wash and remove the waste parts from the carrots and cut them into not too small cubes.

Wash the celery stalk and cut it into cubes.

Slice the onion very finely.

Wash both the sage leaves and the rosemary.

In a pot suitable for roasting, with high sides, put the onion, celery, and carrots with the extra virgin olive oil.

The cooking of the meat should take place, from start to finish, on the smallest burner on low flame.

Transfer the pot to the smallest burner and let the aromas brown over low flame.

As soon as the onion becomes transparent, add the pork loin, raise the flame and let it brown perfectly on all sides; this step is very important because the meat will “seal,” meaning the juices of the loin will not disperse, ensuring the meat remains juicy inside.

This step takes a bit of time, about 10-12 minutes, because we will use the medium flame of the small burner; but I assure you the result will reward you for the time spent.

When the whole piece is well browned, pour the Aglianico wine over the sides only (and not from above as usually done) and let the alcohol completely evaporate.

When the alcohol has evaporated, add the rosemary sprig, the two sage leaves (do not increase the quantity because the spices should only accompany the flavors and aromas, not overpower them), a heaping teaspoon of coarse salt, and the water.

Close the pot, lower the flame, and let it cook for a total of 40 minutes, to have very tender meat that remains pink inside.

After 20 minutes of cooking, turn the meat so that the cooking is as uniform as possible.

Resist the temptation to open the pot from time to time to have a look, as it is important that most of the steam that forms during cooking remains inside the pot.

After 40 minutes, turn off and let the meat rest in the sauce for 12 hours; this rest is very important to ensure the meat firms up and can be sliced, even by hand as I did, into thin slices.

The next day we will proceed to slice it very thinly, using a steel fork and a long, well-sharpened smooth or serrated knife.

After slicing the meat, let’s move on to preparing the Aglianico sauce.

Gather all the cooking sauce in a blender (we can actually skip this step and thicken it directly), remove the rosemary sprig, and blend. Set aside 2 tablespoons of liquid sauce, as it might be needed if the sauce thickens too much.

Put the blended sauce in a small pot, add a heaping tablespoon of already sifted potato starch, mix, and bring to the smallest burner on high flame. Stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Turn off immediately and remove the pot from the burner.

Both the pork loin and the Aglianico sauce that will accompany the dish should be served very hot, and we can reheat or keep them warm either in the cooking pot or in the oven; choose what is most convenient for you.

Some practical suggestions

-If we do not want to take time away from our guests, after slicing the meat and preparing the sauce (operations that can be done well in advance), we can arrange the pork loin slices in a baking dish, placing them in a circle all around and sprinkling them with little sauce. Make layers of meat and sauce until the pork loin slices are finished (the remaining sauce will be put in a sauce boat which we will also heat as needed, so that diners can help themselves as they like).

Put the dish in a hot oven, about 340°F, and heat everything, so as to serve the pork loin with Aglianico very hot.