A rolled and stuffed pork loin sounds complicated, but it is a rather straightforward preparation.  With good ingredients and some butcher’s string, you can have a lovely dish on your table.  Prep time: 35 minutes.  Cook time:  35 minutes.

You can stuff this with anything.  The suggestion below was inspired by some beautiful mushrooms and kitchen staples.  The key is to remember that this very lean piece of meat is going to be moistened and flavored mostly from the stuffing.  So, keep the stuffing moist and highly seasoned.   Don’t worry about making too much stuffing.  You can add it to scrambled eggs in the morning if you have too much.  At the end of this post, see other possibilities for stuffing.

Note: a pork loin is NOT the same as a tenderloin.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork loin with a small fat cap on one side
• 5 large cremini mushrooms, sliced thick (about 2 C total)
• 4 shallots, diced (2/3 C)
• ½ C apricot jam (or other hearty fruit spread)
• 1 ½ C small diced chewy bread (stale is good)
• ½ C smashed and thoroughly drained, chopped spinach
• ½ C butter
• ½ C extra virgin olive oil
• 4 T minced garlic
• 2 T minced rosemary
• Dash of nutmeg
• 2 T shredded Romano cheese
• Salt
• Pepper

Method (You can use one large cast iron frying pan for this entire preparation.  Yay!  Fewer dishes to do.)

• Heat oven to 400 F.
• Butterfly the pork loin. (Open it up into thirds, as if you are opening a 3-panel brochure.)  Use a mallet or wine bottle to even out the thickness.  (Pound down the thicker sides—no need to flatten as if making a schnitzel.)
• Drizzle the inside with some olive, then salt and pepper the loin.  Set aside—with inside facing up.
• Sauté the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil and butter until they begin to release their moisture, but don’t worry about fully cooking them.  You do want them nice and juicy still.  When done, remove and dice them finely. Set aside.
• In the mushroom pan, add the bread cubes, some more butter if needed.  Stir to coat and cook until beginning to brown.  Then add the diced mushrooms, garlic, shallots, spinach, 1 T rosemary, and a couple dashes of nutmeg.  Salt to taste, then set aside.
• Coat the interior side of the loin (the side you oiled and seasoned) with apricot jam.
• Spread the bread cube/mushroom mixture evenly over the jam.
• Dust with the Romano cheese.
• Carefully roll up and use butcher’s string to tie.  It need not look pretty.
• Brown the tied loin in a bit more olive oil in your cast iron pan, just until colored on all sides.
• Drizzle with more olive oil and salt and pepper and place in the oven with the seam side down.

• Roast for 13 minutes at 400 F.
• Turn oven down to 350 F and roast for an additional 15 minutes.
• You should regularly check the internal temperature of the loin with a meat probe. When it is at 150 F, take it out of the oven and rest for 5 minutes.  You are looking for a final internal temperature of 155 – 160 F.  (Carry-over cooking while resting will increase the temperature after you’ve removed it from oven.)
• To serve, remove the string and slice into 1-inch pieces.  Feel free to spoon some more jam with melted butter over the top.  Sprinkle with a bit of the leftover rosemary.

Other Stuffing Options (Use similar proportions as above):

• Bread, briny green olives, lemon zest, raisins or grapes, onions, sauteed pancetta, spread with ricotta mixed with honey as the base.
• Bread, sun-dried tomatoes (diced), pinenuts, onions, shredded Parmesan, spread with pesto as the base.
• Bread, diced fennel, pancetta, shallots, quartered prunes, orange marmalade as the base.

Stay briny,

–Stacey