Tag Archives: pork loin

Tuscan-Style Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary (Arista)

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Arista means “the best.” This dish promises a superlative pork loin flavored with garlic, rosemary, and deep browning. Too bad few versions live up to their name. Preparing it this way, the pork is very juicy and full of flavor; plus it makes a nice presentation on a platter. And it is a very economical piece of meat to feed a small dinner party without feeling you need to break the bank to impress.

Note that we doubled the amount of pancetta paste after other reviewers suggested it. Another change: just before adding the cooked lemon to the sauce at the end to make the vinaigrette, The Hubs added the oils first to the pan to lift the fond left after searing the roast, then strained this and added the strained cooked lemon.

Tuscan-Style Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: moderate
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ingredients

  • 1 lemon
  • ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 4 oz. pancetta, diced
  • 1 (2 1/2-lb.) boneless center-cut pork loin roast, trimmed
  • Kosher salt

Directions

  1. Finely grate 1 teaspoon zest from lemon. Cut lemon in half and reserve. Combine lemon zest, oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in 10-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until garlic is sizzling, about 3 minutes. Add rosemary and cook, 30 seconds. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, pushing on garlic-rosemary mixture to extract oil. Set oil aside and let garlic-rosemary mixture cool. Using paper towels, wipe out skillet.
  2. Process pancetta in food processor until smooth paste forms, 20 to 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add garlic-rosemary mixture and continue to process until mixture is homogeneous, 20 to 30 seconds longer, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  3. Position roast fat side up. Insert knife one-third of way up from bottom of roast along 1 long side and cut horizontally, stopping 1/2 inch before edge. Open up flap. Keeping knife parallel to cutting board, cut through thicker portion of roast about 1/2 inch from bottom of roast, keeping knife level with first cut and stopping about 1/2 inch before edge. Open up this flap. If uneven, cover with plastic wrap and use meat pounder to even out. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon kosher salt over both sides of roast (1/2 tablespoon per side) and rub into meat to adhere. Spread inside of roast evenly with pancetta-garlic paste, leaving about 1/4-inch border on all sides. Starting from short side, roll roast (keeping fat on outside) and tie with twine at 1-inch intervals. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and spray with vegetable oil spray. Set roast fat side up on prepared rack and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  4. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Transfer roast to oven and cook until meat registers 135 degrees, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove roast from oven, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 20 minutes.
  5. Heat 1 teaspoon reserved oil in now-empty skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add reserved lemon halves, cut side down, and cook until softened and cut surfaces are browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer lemon halves to small plate.
  6. Pat roast dry with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons reserved oil in now-empty skillet over high heat until just smoking. Brown roast on fat side and sides (do not brown bottom of roast), 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer roast to carving board and remove twine.
  7. Once lemon halves are cool enough to handle, squeeze into fine-mesh strainer set over bowl. Press on solids to extract all pulp; discard solids. Whisk 2 tablespoons strained lemon juice into bowl with remaining reserved oil. Slice roast into 1/4-inch-thick slices and serve, passing vinaigrette separately.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted recipe from America’s Test Kitchen

Roasted Sweet Vidalia Pork Loin

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For quite a fancy spread, this elegant dinner comes together in not much more than an hour. The sweet Vidalia onions break down into luxurious softness, while the apple slices (we used Ruby Frost) and garlic render down and provide additional layers of flavor to the onion mixture.

Served with garlicky mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, it was a complete and satisfying meal. We had plenty leftover so we plan to get two additional meals from it. One, a pork fried rice dish, and the other we’ll just simply reheat the leftovers as they are, and enjoy the meal all over again!

Roasted Sweet Vidalia Pork Loin

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 center-cut pork loin, (3 lbs.)
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 Vidalia onions, sliced into thin half-moons
  • 1 apple, sliced thick
  • 1 tsp. caraway seeds
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup hard apple cider, or beer
  • 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Generously sprinkle all sides of the pork loin with salt and pepper. Place a braiser or shallow Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and heat until shimmering. Carefully put the pork in the pan. Sear until deeply golden on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
  3. Put the onions and apple in a large mixing bowl. Add the caraway seeds, dried thyme, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat. Transfer the mixture to the bottom of the braiser and nestle in the garlic cloves. Pour in 1/4 cup of the chicken stock and place the pork back on top. Put in the oven.
  4. About 20 minutes into the roasting time, turn the apple and onion mixture, leaving the pork loin alone. Continuing cooking the roast until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, about 30 minutes. (Ours took 40 minutes to come to temperature.)
  5. Transfer the pork to a cutting board to rest while you make a pan sauce. Remove the apple and onion mixture to a platter
  6. Return the braiser to the stove over medium-high heat. Pour in the hard cider and remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock. Cook, scraping with a spatula to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the mustard. Allow the sauce to simmer until reduced slightly, a couple of minutes. Add the butter, whisking until melted. Cook just until the sauce is shiny and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
  7. Slice the pork and arrange the slices over the onion and apple mixture. Top with sauce and chopped parsley.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe by Trisha Yearwood

Pork Loin Roast with Gravy

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Pork loin roasts up beautifully and finishing it with a little gravy made with the pan drippings adds that much more flavor. Such a perfect meal for cooler weather; make sure to have some mashed potatoes or noodles to ladle the fabulous gravy over. Given the simplicity of effort and the relatively few amount of ingredients, the depth of flavor is incredible!

A few notable tips for a perfect roast: It’s helpful to dry first with paper towels to remove extra moisture from exterior so it browns better. Don’t skip searing the pork loin for that extra added layer of flavor. It also seasons the drippings.

A pork loin should be cooked to 145 degrees in the center of the loin with a slightly pink color. Test temperature with a thermometer for doneness rather than guessing or basing it off color.; and be careful not to over-cook or it starts to dry. Finally, let rest before carving to allow juices to evenly distribute so they don’t just end up on the carving board.

To shorten the cooking time, if you have a convention oven option, lower the oven temp to 300°, and cook the meat in about 25% less time. An internal thermometer will let you know exactly when it’s done.

Pork Loin Roast

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Roast

  • 3 – 4 lb. pork loin
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (or 3/4 tsp. dried)
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 3/4 tsp. dried)
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh sage (or 3/4 tsp. dried)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic, 4 cloves
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest or orange zest, optional

Gravy

  • 2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • Pan drippings from roasting pan
  • 1 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade
  • 2 Tbsp. heavy cream, optional

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat (I like to use cast iron for nice browning).
  2. Dab pork loin dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet and brown pork on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, including end caps, about 12 minutes total.
  4. Transfer pork to a plate. Let cool a few minutes so it’s not too hot to handle.
  5. Meanwhile in a small bowl stir together remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil with thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic and citrus zest.
  6. Using hands spread mixture over roast (on all sides, note it doesn’t stick perfectly well and that’s ok if some falls from the sides, just sneak it under the roast to season it). Place meat back into skillet and roast with fat side up.
  7. Insert an oven probe thermometer into center of middle area of pork loin (if you don’t have one use a standard probe thermometer to test temperature occasionally).
  8. Bake pork in preheated oven until center registers 145 degrees on thermometer, about 50 to 70 minutes.
  9. Remove from oven, transfer to carving board. Tent roast with foil and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare gravy in the same skillet.

For the gravy

  1. In previously used skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook 1 1/2 minutes, whisking constantly.
  2. While whisking slowly pour in chicken broth and drippings from roasting pan (you should have a few tablespoons, scrape up browned bits). Let cook until thickened, stirring frequently.
  3. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Stir heavy cream in at the end if using.
  4. Slice roast to desired thickness (I like to slice somewhat thin). Serve with gravy atop slices.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe for cookingclassy.com

Sous Vide Pork Loin Roast with Garlic Herb Rub

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This recipe for sous vide pork loin roast with a garlic herb rub produces the juiciest, most flavorful pork roast you’ve ever had! Just 3-5 hours at 140 degrees F for a perfect medium roast.

FYI, if you purchase a roast bigger than 4 pounds, it is recommend you cut it in half to make it easier to work with. You can freeze the other half or vacuum seal them in different bags and cook them together.

As the water bath warms up, the pork loin gets prepped with the garlic rosemary paste and spread all over the meat. The roast is then placed in a vacuum-sealed bag and clipped to the side of the water bath container with the immersion blender.

This table below shows the time pretty much remains the same, but the temp needs to be regulated for your preferred end result. We like ours medium, so when it reached 140° out it came for the final searing treatment. Instead of trusting our not-so-popular broiler, we opted to accomplish the sear in a carbon-steel skillet, making sure to include browning the end caps. A pair of tongs comes in handy to hold the meat steady.

ResultTempTime
Medium Rare130 degrees F3-5 hours
Medium140 degrees F3-5 hours
Medium-Well150 degrees F3-5 hours
Well Done160 degrees F3-5 hours
Our sides included Red Cabbage Glazed with Maple Syrup and Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Coriander

Sous Vide Pork Loin Roast with Garlic Herb Rub

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Pork Loin Roast:

  • 3-4 lb. pork loin roast
  • Leaves from 1 sprig rosemary
  • 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
  • 1/2 tsp. olive oil, if necessary

Sauce (optional):

  • Liquid from sous vide bag
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 tsp. flaked sea salt

Directions

  1. Preheat a water bath to your desired temp with an immersion circulator. 130F for medium rare, 140F for medium, 150F for medium-well, 160F for well done.
  2. Prepare the rub by adding garlic cloves, rosemary, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to a food processor (or large mortar and pestle) to make a paste. If it needs to be thinned out a bit, add olive oil and continue to process.
  3. Rub this mixture all over the pork loin roast.
  4. Vacuum seal the pork loin roast, or use another air removal method if desired.
  5. Add to water bath and cook for 3-5 hours.
  6. When the roast is done, preheat a large cast-iron or carbon steel skillet. Remove the roast from the water bath and the bag, saving the liquid, and place roast in the skillet. Sear for several minutes on all sides, including the ends, until deeply golden brown.
  7. In a bowl, whisk together the liquid from the bag, lemon juice, parsley, and flaked sea salt.
  8. Slice the pork roast into thick slices and serve with sauce.

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Adapted from a recipe by Chelsea Cole