Rolled Pork Loin stuffed with Apple and Caramelized Onion stuffing

This is a dish I had posted way back, but I still go back to it as it was one of my absolute favourite dishes that I've ever made. You can see all the other delicious servings that went along with this beautiful piece of pork here. 

Preparing this rolled pork loin was fun! A bit of muscle and time is needed :-)

To save myself a bit of the work though, I had the butcher cut a slit in to middle of the pork loin so I could stuff it but I ended up deciding to roll it too. I simply slice the ends open to butterfly the pork loin. You can also ask the butcher to butterfly it for you but I changed my mind to butterfly after the fact.

The butcher also scored the fat top of the pork loin for me.

Part of the fun was having the preparation of this dish become a joint effort. We all (myself and all my friends who were over for Christmas) each took a turn pounding the poor thing until reaching about 2cm thick. Boy oh boy that builds muscle!! This took some time, but that was probably because of all the laughing while doing it :-)

I seasoned both sides of the pork loin with some salt and pepper and rubbed each side with olive oil. 

To prepare the stuffing I used was a boxed cranberry stuffing (I’m no miracle worker I needed to leave something to be quick preparation), but I mixed it with some onions caramelized with apples and balsamic vinegar. Yum!

I spread the stuffing over the flesh side of the pork loin then simply rolled it (like a jelly roll).

I then tied 3 pieces of string around the rolled pork loin to hold it together while it roasts.

It roasted in the oven at 450F/gas mark 5 for about 1hr, until the internal temperature reached 165C. However, I turn up the oven temperature a tad half way through cooking so that the crackling gets going....yum yum yum!!

Allow the pork to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing.

This is a seriously delicious pork! Just try and you'll see. 

Enjoy!

Porky Pasta

Funny name isn't it? This dish is made with pork and pasta...hence the name. Why not? It's fun :)
This, as many of my pasta dishes, was a 'whatever is in the fridge and needs to be eaten' dish. Tasted delicious!


(Feeds 2 people)
300g short pasta (I love using conchiglie with this type of sauce because it catches all the yummy bits inside the shell)
225g ground pork
1/2 onion -  chopped
2 stalks celery - chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 cup beer
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tsp caraway seeds

1/4 cup sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

- Cook pasta al dente in salted water

- Cook onions and celery with some olive oil until almost soft, then add the pork

- Once pork is cooked through stir in the flour and pour in beer and beef broth. Allow liquid to reduce then season with salt, pepper and caraway seeds. Stir in sour cream and allow to heat through

- Mix pasta in the same pan with the pork mixture and serve

Delicious quick fix!

I'm sending this one off as my entry for this weeks Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Gay of Scientist in the Kitchen. Thanks Gay!