Beautiful tenderloin of pork was on sale at the butcher this past weekend, and it’s a favourite of ours because it is low in saturated fats (compared to other cuts of pork). I trim off all of the excess fat, to minimize the calories, but you can do as you wish.
Here is an interesting note for Canadians buying supermarket meat (not sure if the same is true in the U.S. or E.U.) that I learned through working for the design firm specializing in food packaging. If a piece of meat says that it is “seasoned” it does not mean that it has spices on it. It means that it has been ‘plumped’ with water, sodium phosphate and salt. They say they do this to retain moisture but in reality, if you cook the product properly, you should have a moist and delicious piece of meat. They do it to make the meat look bigger and plumper. You will also notice that the label, by law, will indicate the meat protein percentage. For example, a similar plumped loin of pork will say “minimum 18% meat protein”. In addition, if you’ve ever bought this type of product, you will notice that when you cook it, it shrinks incredibly, and that is because it is plumped and the liquid cooks out of it, leaving you with the 18% meat protein. It kinda grosses me out. Even when I didn’t know this fact, I usually stayed away from a “seasoned” product as I would usually want to season it myself with my own herbs and spices. Strange but true.
This recipe is really quite simple: meat, cheese, tomatoes, black olives, garlic, lemon thyme, lemon rind and butcher’s twine. Oh, OK, I’ll write it out for you.
Mediterranean Stuffed Loin of Pork
Serves 4 (we used two portions for dinner and two for lunch the following day).
Ingredients:
- 400-600g pork loin (not seasoned)
- Handful of crumbled feta (I would have used John’s home made feta, if we lived close-by)
- Handful of black olives (I used a mix of Kalamata and sun dried olives)
- Handful of sun dried tomatoes (I used dried, but you can use the ones in olive oil)
- 1 tbsp lemon thyme
- 1 tsp lemon rind
- 2 cloves garlic, minced finely
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Get the stuffing ingredients prepared first. Pit the olives and cut in half. Crumble the feta and gently mix in the lemon rind and lemon thyme. Slice the sun dried tomatoes into thin slices.
- Now for the meat: remove all sinew and fat from pork. Cut down the centre but not all the way through; try to cut the pork so the thickness is relatively even.
- Spread pork out flat and rub the garlic into it.
- Add the sun dried tomatoes, olives and feta. Press the feta down to help it stick to the other ingredients. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
- Roll up the sides so that the stuffing stays put in the middle. Wrap butchers’ twine around it, nothing fancy, you just want to hold the sides in place so it cooks wrapped and keeps its shape when sliced.
- Heat a cast iron pan on the stove with a little oil. Sear the pork on all sides. Place the pan and pork into the hot oven and bake for about 30 minutes. The inner temperature of the meat should be 150-160°F, depending on how well done you enjoy your pork.
- Remove from oven and allow the pork to sit covered for 10 minutes. Slice into 2cm thick slices.
- Serve on greens or with a starch. Enjoy.
I think we’ll be making this soon. I’ve been wanting pork lately and this looks just like what I’ve been craving. 🙂
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Thanks Kristy, it’s a staple in our house. It works well on the BBQ too!
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Eva, your stuffed pork looks gorgeous (isn’t this part called tenderloin?). I love the choice of stuffing ingredients too! It’s horribly hot here, so I almost feel like in the South of Europe and a slice of your pork would go great with this weather 🙂 The funny thing is I made yesterday Thai curry with pork tenderloin! I also cut off the fat parts. The only pork cut where for me the fat is necessary is streaky bacon (and sometimes on roast pork loin, but not always).
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Thank you kindly Sissi; I cut off the fat on ally meat, it’s a habit. But the tenderloin is one cut that maintains its delicious moistness throughout the baking.
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Beautiful stuffed loin Eva! WOW, this looks really delicious. I have done it with chicken but never with pork loin. And thank you for sharing your knowledge about “seasoned” meat. I didn’t know that!
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Thanks Nami, it turned out very well. It’s really terrible that an agency created to protect the citizens actually deceives them. Sad really.
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I love this style of cooking. I made a very similar dish the other day and used raisins, prunes, feta and sage. Nice post BTW. 🙂
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Thanks Corrie, it’s so tasty that you are satisfied very quickly. I’ll check out your blog when we return from our trip.
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Well damn, that looks amazing Eva! I’ve never had much luck stuffing pork before… the pork loin is always too small. Great job though – the stuffing looks fabulous!
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Maria mentioned that this looked huge too, but in fact, the loin is only about 550g so it’s not huge. Thank you for the kind words.
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Very informative, Eva. I only buy pork loin, and all my meat, from a butcher these days as I don’t trust anything pre-packaged. We just had some grilled pork tenderloin with chimichurri…so good. And the stuffing in this one looks right up my taste bud alley!
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Us too, Betsy, but I thought I would bring it up as so many of even my group wouldn’t know. Thanks, it was quite tasty. Chimichurri sounds wonderful too.
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I can’t remember who else mentioned chimichurri to me recently. I definitely have to make some and try it out on some pork. It’s good on/with chicken too, isn’t it?
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Hi Maria,
Chimichurri is a lovely green sauce just full of my favourite flavours. I think you will like it too, as it doesn’t have too many vegetables 😉
I would pair chimichurri with any protein, even fish.
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I’ll definitely be making this sauce but have to wait for my next trip to the market/grocery store for supplies especially the parsley. In the meantime, there are so many meal ideas bubbling in my little brain. The shame is there is only one of me to feed. 🙂
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You should have a party! Have a wonderful long weekend.
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I think you can safely substitute “all natural” for “seasoned” here in the states, meaning that the majority of meat available at the supermarket is messed up in some fashion. Hence why we buy our from a farm or travel great distances to get the real thing.
btw…delicious looking loin there. 😉
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It is rather astounding isn’t it? The CFIA and the Food and Drug Administration were set up to protect us lowly citizens but in reality what they are doing is fooling us into believing they do. We have a few US customers who use ‘all natural’ so I will look into this nomenclature. Thanks for the heads up.
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This kind of meal is what my brother looks for – it would be a wonderful surprise for him 😀
You made it flawlessly!
Cheers
CCU
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Thanks CCU, it was ever so tasty even as leftovers.
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An amazing looking stuffed tenderloin, Eva. I imagine it was a big hit when served at your table. I finally bought some twine about 6 months ago and haven’t had occasion to use it yet as the next leg of lamb I buy and bone out to stuff with walnut pesto and then roll is what it was destined for.
By the way, you must have a huge cast iron pan to be able to sear that monster loin in. 🙂
And, I know about the ‘seasoned’ trick. I made the mistake of buying a package of frozen “seasoned” boneless skinless chicken breasts for quick meals and couldn’t get through them fast enough as I never wanted to see them in my kitchen again.
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Thank you Maria, the loin looks larger than it actually was, it was around 550g so my 10″ pan was perfect.
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It looked like a ‘monster’ … at least several pounds. I bought a 4 pound one a while back and cut it in half for the freezer. I used one of the halves just recently to make the bbq Chinese pork with.
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Also, I had it on a rather smallish cutting board. 🙂
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I realize that I didn’t really register the numbers (as in the weight of the pork loin) in your recipe, but honestly, Eva, it just LOOKS really large. And that’s a GOOD thing. 🙂
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It does, doesn’t it. It served us for 5 single dinners, which was great. And to be honest, the next day was better than the first. Enjoy.
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This is an incredible roast, Eva! Really spectacular and I cannot imagine the reception it received from your dinner guests.
I’ve not heard of “seasoned” in this sense before and don’t like it. I’ve thought seasoned was synonymous for aged. Well, I’ll check it out next time.
Thank you for the shout out. Once you get some time, try to make the feta. A couple others have already done so and with good results. You, too, can definitely do it, Eva. Safe travels this weekend!
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Thank you kindly John. The roast was just a weeknight dinner I had to share. We’re having leftovers tonight!
I will definitely try the feta too, but first the mozzarella! I can hardly wait.
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Wow.. I know a recipe is a stunner when I talk out loud to myself, lol! I kept saying “Oh, my goodness.. oh, my goodness” as I scrolled down. I’m definitely going to try this recipe, I love pork loin and didn’t know there were different types to purchase? Thank goodness you pointed this out, who knows what I’ve been buying?? I love how pretty it looks when it’s sliced open. I think I may just have to find some friends to invite over so I can make this and watch they’re eyes when I slice it up to serve! Wonderful, really wonderful! xoxo Smidge
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Thanks Smidge, your comments are so lovely. The recipe makes great leftovers too, we’re having it tonight on a bed of greens. I’ll probably warm it up, but it’s not entirely necessary as the flavours are strong enough that it’s tasty either way.
Yes, some things the CFIA allows manufacturers to get away with is disturbing. It’s also disturbing how unclear they allow some claims to be.
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Wow, I love the combination of flavours Eva! Do you think this recipe would go well with chicken? It’s not that I have anything against pork, I just have a lot of chicken in the freezer at the moment.
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It would be perfect with chicken, Amber, dark or white meat. Let me know how it turns out.
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We don’t eat pork for religious reasons, but your filling is so versatile I can make it work with other meat. So colourful!
In the US most meat, I believe is pumped with crap. You have to buy free range or organic to get good stuff. I buy meat from a Halal (Kosher) butcher so I usually don’t have to worry about junk. Halal meat is drained of all blood and impurities.
I don’t know why they have to mess with everything.
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Thanks for dropping by, Nazneen. Yes, this stuffing can be used in Chicken too, in fact, it would be extremely tasty in chicken. I’ve bought kosher and halal meat before even though I’m not those religions because I had seen a story on 60 Minutes years ago that claimed the butchering practices are cleaner and treat the animals with compassion and respect than standard butchering. It was interesting. It’s about the all mighty buck, isn’t it?
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Preseasoned stuff is always too salty. This looks wonderful. Hopefully we’ll have some good meat sales for the fourth.
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That’s true too Greg. Can hardly wait to see what you cook up! Happy long weekend!
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Those slices look so yummy, I am having breakfast and seriously could have a slice may be 2 for breakfast. Like your olive and sun dried tomato combo.
What you show in the photo is what we call in the US a pork tenderloin.
I too like to season my meat myself.
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Wow you are an early riser! Thank you for your lovely compliments Norma; they call it tenderloin here too, I was just lazy and called it loin!
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Oh you are so good with trimming excess fat. I’m not there yet. I love fat.
I don’t think seasoned meat has the same meaning here in NZ, but it is interesting. Companies here also pump meat with liquid. I find it disgusting that meat resellers would pump meat with water. It’s to make it heavier you know. The more water you pay for, the less meat you get. Often, the cheapest cuts of meat are a false economy because they are heavy with water.
Bacon is most noticeable. Dry cured bacon or bacon bought at the farmers market gets crisp and delicious after cooking. Cheap, water-pumped supermarket bacon becomes floppy and a bit grey. It really shouldn’t be allowed to be called the same thing. It’s miles apart.
I love the flavours in your recipe. I can’t say I’ve ever stuffed pork before or even used twine on a piece of meat! The slices with the stuffing showing look gorgeous.
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Thank you kindly Genie, it was a lovely meal and we’ll be having it for dinner tonight again. I love leftovers! I trim the fat to cut the calories…I have to at my age!
I didn’t know that about bacon. I saw your own home made bacon on your blog way back and have envied it. I’d really like to try to make bacon at least once. Thank you for the lovely compliment.
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I did know about the seasoned trick — so I try to avoid it too. This looks lovely Eva. You did a good job of stuffing — everything stayed in tack! (I’ve had some fails!)
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Thanks Barb, the butchers twine kept everything in its place.
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I did know about the seasoned pork trick and so I try to avoid it. This looks like a lovely pork dish. You did a good job of stuffing — everything stayed in tact!
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Yes, it worked out well. I find the feta holds up well in the heat of the oven. Thanks Barb, hope you have a fabulous long weekend.
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This looks delicious. I’ve never used feta with pork, I’ll definitely have to give it a try.
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Welcome to my blog, Corinna and thank you for your kind comment. Pork and feta are a delightful combo, that’s for sure.
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What a lovely post. I think we call this pork fillet in New Zealand? I will check with my butcher. I intend to give this recipe a go this weekend. Thanks for posting. Hmmm I think I may serve it with parsnip mash or even some orzo pasta could be tasty.
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Welcome to my blog Bonnie, and thank you for your compliments. It is called the tenderloin here, but we often shorten it to loin. Here is a site that shows where it is from on the pig http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Ipv&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1401&bih=866&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=jQiCAs2cClnJzM:&imgrefurl=http://fcg-bbq.blogspot.com/2009/01/bbq-801-cuts-o-meat.html&docid=Ina2a_rot0LYtM&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CleRr46Nh1w/SXaZEwh_ZrI/AAAAAAAAALw/kW5rZ2PiHUE/s400/pork%252Bcuts.jpg&w=400&h=304&ei=v2PsT–FC4qA6QHF7Jy1BQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=562&vpy=160&dur=7197&hovh=196&hovw=258&tx=176&ty=114&sig=113756468271396563737&page=1&tbnh=157&tbnw=207&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:78.
I have a lovely celeriac and cauliflower mash that would be lovely with this dish too, please check it out. https://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/cauliflower-celeriac-%E2%80%9Cmashed-potatoes%E2%80%9D/
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That looks stunning Eva and this is definitely my kind of meal. I love the colourful stuffing. I tend not to buy meat from a supermarket. I go to a butcher who is able to tell me where the meat has come from and whether it is free-range, organic etc. I definitely don’t buy anything seasoned as I’m sure those things they pump it with will kill us. Why can’t they leave things alone and let us eat pure food not bastardised rubbish xx
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I agree Charlie. But buying from a butcher definitely has a premium to it. I was at a market a couple of years ago, and there was a guy buying organic chicken breasts in front of me. It was obvious his wife told him what to buy from the look on his face when they said 4 breasts were $60! I could also just see what was going through his head…he’d better not show up without them! Too funny.
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