Greek Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Happy Monday, blog readers. And it’s the day before Valentine’s Day, too, so don’t forget to do something nice for your sweetie.

My sweetie and I enjoyed our unofficial Valentine’s Day celebrations this weekend, going out for a nice dinner at Hollywood’s Restaurant on Saturday night and staying in for a tasty, home-cooked meal last night.

Last night, I tried a recipe I’ve been saving for a couple of weeks for Greek stuffed pork. The tenderloin is butterflied and stuffed with a mixture of red onion, spinach, tomato, lemon zest, bread crumbs and feta cheese. The pork is rubbed on the outside with oregano, salt and more lemon zest, and the finished product is served with a port wine pan sauce good enough to make you want to lick the plate.

This recipe is meant for a large pork tenderloin but I already had one of those skinny tenderloins in the freezer, so I adapted the recipe a bit. It was a lot of stuffing for my tenderloin and the kitchen twine was definitely a necessity. You can see in the picture that it cooked with stuffing side up, like a hot dog. But I think the larger roast would look more like a sandwich, with the stuffing in the middle and a nice surface area on top for the rub. However, even with this variation, it was a smashing success. I must share with you all this delicious recipe (below).

Did you try any new recipes this weekend?

Greek Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4

1 (2-lb.) pork loin roast
Cotton kitchen string

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup finely diced, seeded tomato (I used canned diced tomatoes, well-drained)
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped
Zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper
100g feta cheese, crumbled
1 slice fresh bread buzzed into crumbs

2 Tbsp. oregano
Zest from 1 lemon
Pinch kosher salt

Sauce:
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 cup port
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp. cold butter

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute red onion and garlic for a few minutes, or until softened. Add tomato and spinach and stir until spinach has wilted. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Butterfly the pork loin and let it lay open. Stir bread crumbs and feta cheese into spinach mixture. Spread the stuffing evenly over the butterflied pork loin and then fold it back over like a book.
3. Mix together oregano, zest and salt and rub over the top of the pork roast (fat side up). Tie roast together with kitchen twine.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in an ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Gently place pork roast in the pan, fat side down, and brown it for a few minutes. Turn over and place in the oven.
6. Roast, uncovered, about 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 and continue roasting until the pork reaches an internal temperature of about 150 to 155 degrees. Remove from oven, transfer to a serving platter or plate and tent with foil.
7. In the same pan, saute shallot in the meat drippings until tender. Add port and simmer for 2 minutes, whisking to scrape up all of the bits from the pan. Add chicken stock and simmer until the sauce has reduced by half, about 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in butter.
8. Slice pork and serve with a drizzle of sauce.

Adapted from noreeats.blogspot.com