I saw this recipe on the foodnetwork a few months ago. The ideas of goats cheese with lemon wrapped in pork and balsamic cherry sauce were making my mouth water. I wanted to try it but I could not find any fresh cherries at the time. Now that cherries are in season I finally got to try it. This recipe is a bit more work than some but it is well worth the effort.
I have never cooked a stuffed pork loin before. A lot of the cheese mixture leaked out of the pork but enough was left inside. (The burnt cheese in the pan tasted great!) The melted and burnt cheese in the pan made making the cherry sauce a bit more challenging.
Note: Be absolutely careful to alway use oven mitts when touching the pan after it has come out of the oven. I was momentarily distracted, forgot and grabbed the pan… It was very painful! I have been putting off writing this post for a while now. I actually made this two weeks ago and the blisters on my are still not fully healed. Hopefully I have learned my lesson and will never make this mistake again.
Despite the painful memories this recipe tastes great and I will be making it again.
Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Balsamic Cherry Sauce
ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup soft goat cheese (crumbled)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon basil (chopped)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (ground)
- butcher twine (I used unwaxed and unflavoured floss)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup cherries (pits removed and chopped)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
directions
- Butterfly cut the pork lengthwise. (A butterfly cut is where you cut the pork as if you were going to cut it in half but stop cutting 1/2 inch from the end. This way you can roll up the pork and form a pocket.)
- Lay the pork out flat with the cut open.
- Season the inside of the pork with salt and pepper.
- Mix the cheese, lemon zest, and basil and ground black pepper in a bowl.
- Spread the cheese mixture on the inside of the pork leaving a 1/2 inch border free.
- Roll the pork up sealing the cheese mixture inside.
- Tie the pork roll with butchers twine in one inch intervals.
- Rub olive oil onto the outside of the pork roll.
- Season the outside of the pork roll with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat the olive oil in an oven proof pan.
- Cook the pork tenderloin in the pan until the whole outside is golden brown.
- Place the pan with the pork into a preheated 400F/200C oven and cook for about 12 minutes.
- Place the pork roll on a plate and let it rest.
- Place the pan back on the stove. (Use oven mitts as the pan will be very hot.)
- Pour the red wine into the pan and scrape the bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon.
- Add the cherries, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
- Let the liquid reduce for a few minutes.
- Slice the pork, plate it and drizzle with the cherry sauce.
katiez says
OMG, does that sound good! I love goat cheese…
and the sauce… I can see why you got distracted. Hope your hand is improving rapidaly!
Peter M says
Kevin, looks like it still worked out well and I like the use of seasonal cherries for the sauce…I might try a similar sauce this week.
ttfn300 says
yeah, this was awesome 🙂
Elina says
Kevin, I made this dish for a small dinner party last night and everyone absolutely loved it. I love how stuffed pork tenderloins look so impressive when they’re really not very hard to make. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
tompkins_accountable says
Here is a tip for you, i used to grab the handle of saute pans that i had taken out of the oven, and I am a chef and do this daily, but when you take it out of the oven hot, drape a towel over the handle and you will remember not to grab it.
Kevin says
tompkins_accountable: Great tip! Thanks! I had actually started doing that.
Anonymous says
Next time, when you butterfly out the pork loin, cover each in plastic wrap and pound them out with a meat tenderizer until about a third inch thick. Then add your filling, fold, and tie it up with butcher twine. It will keep your goat cheese comfortably inside and help the pork cook evenly. Cheers!