Herb-stuffed pork loin: the recipe to make a delicious meal

Who says pork loin is boring, bland, and dry? If you want to impress your family and friends, then dish up this amazing pork loin roast.

It’s made by butterflying a loin roast, then spreading the middle with a fantastic mix of fresh herbs, garlic, Parmesan, anchovies, and capers. The joint is then rolled up and tied before searing in an ovenproof skillet. The whole skillet is then put in a cool oven and roasted gently until it’s cooked.

That’s not the end of the tastiness, though – the cream and white wine sauce to go with the joint add a whole new level of special to this dish.

How to make Herb-stuffed pork loin

Butterfly the pork loin. Start with the fat side up on a cutting board. Insert your knife 2/3 of the way up from the bottom, and carefully begin cutting horizontally.

Stop about a 1/2 inch from the end, and open up the flap.

Now, continue cutting down by pivoting your knife so you are cutting back in the opposite direction, about a 1/3 way down from the bottom of the roast. You are opening up the roast to make a flat piece of meat.

Fully open the flap, then cover with plastic wrap. Pound with a meat tenderizer (or a heavy rolling pin) until the roast has flattened out.

Combine the brown sugar and 1 tablespoon salt in a bowl. Then sprinkle all over the roast and smooth it out with your hands.

Transfer the meat to a gallon-size zipper-lock bag, seal, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 275F/120C fan/gas mark 1.

Heat 1/4 cup oil and sliced garlic cloves in a cast-iron or oven-safe 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

Move the garlic and oil to a separate medium-sized bowl and let it cool for around 5 minutes.

Stir Parmesan, parsley, basil, capers, anchovies, lemon zest, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper into garlic oil once it has cooled.

Remove the roast from the fridge, and place it cut side up on cutting board.

Spread Parmesan mixture evenly over the surface of the roast, leaving around a 1/2-inch border on all sides.

Roll the roast tightly from the short side, and then tie with kitchen twine at 1-inch intervals.

This bit can be tricky to do yourself so you might want someone to help you by holding the meat roll closed while you tie it.

Season the roast with black pepper.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat.

Add the meat and sear on all sides until browned, about 12 minutes.

Turn the roast seam side down in the skillet. Add shallots, rosemary sprigs, and whole garlic cloves. Transfer skillet to middle rack in the preheated oven.

Cook until thickest part of roast registers 135 F. (about 1 hour and 10 minutes).

Transfer roast to carving board and tent with aluminum foil…let rest for 30 minutes (Don't clean skillet out yet. We’re going to use the juices to make the sauce).

Meanwhile, use a fork to mash garlic to a paste in the skillet.

Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook until shallot and garlic are sizzling.

Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add wine and cook until it’s nearly evaporated – about 2 more minutes.

Add stock and cream then bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup and has thickened – around 10 to 12 minutes.

Strain through a fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan. Discard solids left in the strainer.

Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

Remove twine from roast and cut into ½ inch slices.

Serve with the sauce in a gravy boat or jug.

Notes

I couldn’t get hold of a center-cut loin roast so I used a generic pork loin roast instead. This means that you have an extra piece of meat joined to the round of the loin. You can remove this to have the center loin only, or keep it. If you keep it, you won’t get such a neat pinwheel of herb filling but you will get larger slices of meat.