Pancetta and Mushroom Stuffed Pork Loin - Caity

  

 

If you only make one pork roast in your life, please, let this be it. It's soooooooooooooooo good! It's a nice pork roast stuffed with pancetta, mushrooms, bread crumbs and herbs then has porcini fennel salt sprinkled on the outside before being roasted to perfection. We just ate it last night and I already want to eat it again! 

It is a little more work than your average pork loin (with the stuffing) but it is really worth the effort and deserves a place on your table this holiday season. Try serving with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Sage or your favorite risotto and Balsamic Asparagus with Parmesan with Panna Cotta for dessert. This recipe comes from Food 52. 

Note: Make sure you have butcher string! You don't want to substitute out of desperation (no blue soup like in Bridget Jones Diary-bleh). Also, I was unable to find porcini powder pre-made, so I took dried porcini mushrooms and ground them using a mortar and pestle.

Serves 4

One year ago: Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Two years ago: Panna Cotta, Ozoni: Japanese New Year's Soup

Three years ago: Chai Concentrate, Butternut Squash and Sage Soup

Four years ago: Lemony Crab and Spinach Pasta Salad, Killian's Irish Brown Bread, Pumpkin Bread Pudding

 

what you'll need:

for the stuffing

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 oz sliced pancetta, cut into a fine dice

2 cups diced mushrooms of your choosing

1 large clove garlic, crushed

1 cup fresh bread crumbs (okay, so I used panko and it turned out great!)

1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

10 fresh basil leaves sliced thin

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup Marsala wine

for the pork loin

1 pork loin, about 1-1/2 lbs (I prefer to buy the roast vs tenderloin to give myself more room to stuff) 

1/2 tsp porcini powder (see note above)

1/2 tsp ground fennel seed (I ground fennel seed using mortar and pestle)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

olive oil for rubbing the roast

  

For the Stuffing:

In a large saute pan, cook the pancetta in the olive oil until almost crisp. Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until the mushrooms brown a bit. 

Stir in the bread crumbs, basil, parsley, salt and pepper until all is combined. Moisten with the Marsala and set aside while you prep the pork loin. 

 

For the Pork Loin:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

In a small bowl, combine the porcini powder, ground fennel seed, salt and pepper. Set aside. 

Slice the pork roast lengthways down the side (like you would a sub sandwich). Be sure not to cut all the way through. Lay the roast as flat as possible. 

Cover with plastic wrap. Then using a mallet, frying pan, rolling pin or whatever is handy (wine bottle, cough cough) pound the roast until it is a uniform thickness and in the shape of a rectangle about 6 x 12 inches. 

Spread the stuffing mixture along the roast leaving a 2 inch section clear at one end. 

 

Roll the roast and tie with butcher string to secure.

Rub the entire roll with olive oil and then sprinkle with the porcini-fennel salt mixture. 

In a large non-stick saute pan, sear the roast on all sides until well browned.  

 

Roast in a preheated 350F open roaster for 40 to 45 minutes (internal temp should be about 165). Let rest about 10 minutes before removing the string and slicing. 

Happy Holidays!!!!

One year ago: Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Two years ago: Panna Cotta, Ozoni: Japanese New Year's Soup

Three years ago: Chai Concentrate, Butternut Squash and Sage Soup

Four years ago: Lemony Crab and Spinach Pasta Salad, Killian's Irish Brown Bread, Pumpkin Bread Pudding