It’s day 15 of my 24 day Christmas blogging marathon. Only 10 days to go until Christmas! Today’s recipe is a great holiday recipe, especially if you have house guests. The mushroom stuffing is good enough to eat in its own right and the pork tenderloin is out of this world. Tender and juicy, it fairly melts in your mouth. It does take a little more time that just popping a pork tenderloin in the oven, but the few extra minutes are so worth it.
This recipe has been adapted from a Food Network recipe.
To get started gather your ingredients which include what else, but pork tenderloins, bacon, and mushrooms. In addition, you will need: olive oil, salt, and pepper, a clove of garlic, a tablespoon of bread crumbs, chopped fresh parsley and grated lemon zest. Is your mouth watering yet? It should be!
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Heat your olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add your bacon and cook until crisp, which should take about 8-10 minutes.
Remove the bacon and crumble. Return to the skillet and add the mushrooms, 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat until the mushrooms are soft which should take about 4-5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute, Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs and all but 2 tablespoons of the parsley. Let cool.
This mixture is delicious all by its self. Next time I make this dish, and there definitely will be a next time, I will probably double the mushroom mixture and chop the mushrooms into smaller pieces which I think will make it easier to jelly roll the pork tenderloin.
Speaking of jelly rolling the port tenderloin, to make this happen, you have to butterfly the tenderloin. You can do this, by making an incision down the length of tenderloin. Do not cut all the way through. Make sure you leave about a 1/2 inch which is not cut. Open the tenderloin like a book so the tenderloins lie flat.
Cover the pork with plastic wrap. I used a gallon sized plastic storage bag and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet until about 1/2 inch thick. If you want to be able to jelly roll your pork this is very important. I think I only pounded it to a 3/4 to 1 inch thickness and I had trouble rolling it up. Take your time and start from the middle and work outward till your pork is 1/2 inch thick.
Spread the mushroom mixture over the 2 tenderloins.
Starting with a long side, tightly roll up each tenderloin. Secure the seams with toothpicks. I used the toothpicks to hold it together initially, but then tied each tenderloin about 6 times using kitchen string.
Brush the tenderloins with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Sear each tenderloin in a large skillet over medium high heat on all sides.
Put on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the pork registers 145 degrees. Remove from the oven and cover with foil. Let rest for a minimum of 10 minutes or so.
In the meantime, mix 3 Tbsp of olive oil with 2 Tbsp of finely chopped parsley, the lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.
Remove the toothpicks and strings and slice the pork. To serve, top with the parsley oil.
I served this delicious pork with green beans and toasted almonds. It was wonderful!
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| Servings |
- 2 pork tenderloins
- 5 Tbsp olive oil plus more for brushing
- 4 slices bacon crumbled
- 8 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced or chopped, any kind will do
- salt and pepper
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 Tbsp breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
Ingredients
|
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add your bacon and cook over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove from the skillet and crumble. Add back to the skillet.
- Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste and cook over medium heat until soft.
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute, remove from heat and stir in the breadcrumbs and all but 2 Tbsp of parsley. Let cool.
- Butterfly the pork tenderloin. Make an incision lengthwise through the pork being careful not to cut all the way through. Open the meal so the tenderloins lie flat.
- Cover the pork with plastic wrap or a gallon plastic storage bag and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet until about 1/2 inch thick. Start from the middle and work outward.
- Spread the mushroom mixture over the 2 tenderloins.
- Starting with the long side, carefully roll up the tenderloin as tight as possible, jelly roll style. Secure with toothpicks, and finish with kitchen string, tying each 2 inches or so until the roll is secure.
- Brush each tenderloin generously with olive oil and liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add some olive oil to the skillet and sear all sides of each tenderloin over medium high heat.
- Place pork on a cookie sheet covered with foil and place in the oven.
- Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of your pork registers 145 degrees. Approximately 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cover with foil. Let rest for a minimum of 10 minutes.
- Mix the remaining 3 Tbsp of olive oil with 2 Tbsp of finely chopped parsley, the lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.
- Remove the string and any toothpicks. Slice the pork and top with the parsley oil to serve.
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