Holiday roasts — as delicious as they are — often suffer from slab-of-meat syndrome. Which is to say, you plop down a honking hunk of meat and … that’s about it. Not the prettiest or most festive item on the table.
So we decided to see what would happen if we dressed up a basic roast so that it not only was beautiful, but also packed a ton of flavor. This stuffed pork loin is the delicious result. We start by butterflying a basic pork loin, then fill it with a crazy good blend of bacon, onions, fresh sage and rosemary, and some crunchy panko breadcrumbs. Next, we roll it all up and pop it in the oven. When you slice it, you’ll see this is no dull roast.
But we didn’t stop there. We also make a rich cranberry-white wine-butter sauce to drizzle over the pork at the table. Because it’s the holidays, after all.
STUFFED PORK LOIN WITH CRANBERRY BEURRE BLANC
Start to finish: 2 hours (45 minutes active)
Servings: 8
8 ounces bacon, diced
2 medium yellow onions, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
2- to 2 1/2-pound pork loin
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons coarse ground mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Nutrition information per serving: 550 calories; 340 calories from fat (62 percent of total calories); 38 g fat (15 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 115 mg cholesterol; 510 mg sodium; 14 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 32 g protein.
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