Not fancy, just particular.

Pork tenderloin is a delicious, versatile, and surprisingly cheap cut of pork, and is a staple of our ingredients due to being sold in large packs that we can portion out and freeze for later. But sometimes, you want to make a showstopper, you know? That's why we came up with this stuffed pork tenderloin: this is one of those dishes that seems complicated the first time it's prepared, but then becomes a breeze to throw together ahead of time or the evening of (especially if you can chop ingredients quickly).

History of stuffing meat with other stuff

The earliest record of stuffing meat with other stuff is from the ancient roman text "Apicius" from around 300 AD. The author is unknown, but it describes the act of taking a chicken and stuffing it with brains, peppers, ginger, and pine nuts amongst other things. Stuffing at this time was considered a luxury (yep, brains and pine nuts will do that), but is now a common way of adding different flavours and textures to roasted meat dishes, even on a budget (Or you can make turducken, if you wish to play God with protein).

Tips for stuffing

Stuffing is a great method to elevate a variety of dishes and can be a way to incorporate different flavours into any meal. This can be done with pretty much any protein and the possibilities for stuffing are endless. There are just a few key rules that apply to any filling that will make your recipes more successful.

One key factor is the size of the ingredients in your filling. In order to have a consistent ratio of filling to meat throughout the tenderloin, it is important that all ingredients in your filling are cut to similar sizes. This will also make wrapping easier and less messy. Another thing to be aware of is the amount of moisture in your filling. It is important to get rid of any excess moisture in order to avoid steaming the meat from the inside as the filling cooks. You can take care of this excess moisture in fruits and vegetables like apple, spinach, and mushrooms by cooking them before mixing your filling. For wet cheeses like ricotta, you can drain any excess liquid by using a fine mesh strainer or squeezing it through a cheesecloth. Alternatively, ingredients like nuts, dried fruits, and herbs should be dry enough to add to a filling directly, though you can still sauté them to incorporate flavours.

Some fillings that would go well with pork include:

• Lemon and herb
• Brie and apricot
• Orange and fennel
• Caramelized onion and mushroom
• Spinach and ricotta
• Pumpkin, sage and walnut
• Feta and sun-dried tomato

Tips for wrapping

In this recipe, we use plastic wrap and time to achieve a tight wrapping. The cool temperature in the fridge and the tight plastic wrap makes the meat less malleable. When the meat is less malleable, it is easier to transfer to a baking sheet without it falling apart and allows it to hold its form better as it cooks. This method of wrapping also results in a neater presentation and we have used this method for all sorts of recipes that involve wrapping, such as Chicken Cordon Bleu. It also means you can prepare the pork loin ahead of time (as early as the night before), allowing you to focus on other things the day of. However, if you are short on time, you can also use butcher’s twine or toothpicks to hold your pork loin together.

While it may look like this recipe uses a lot of prosciutto at first glance, it is important to use more prosciutto than you might think to achieve a consistent wrapping. In previous tests of this recipe, we used less prosciutto, which seemed to work fine when we first wrapped it, but turned out to not be enough after cooking. This is because prosciutto has a decent amount of fat in it. When the pork is put in the oven to cook, the fat will render out of the prosciutto, causing it to shrink and pull away from the tenderloin. This will result in bare spots of pork, which will still taste great, but it isn’t as nice to look at. So, when wrapping your pork loin, make sure there is some excess prosciutto to account for the changes that will occur during cooking.

Why prosciutto?

You can wrap this tenderloin in either prosciutto or bacon, but we recommend prosciutto. Bacon is wonderful with it's crispy, fatty, smokey flavor, but it's narrow width per piece will force you to put a lot of it on, rendering out a lot of lard in the cooking and perhaps taking the tenderloin to a point where it is too rich. Frustratingly, because the bacon is fattier than the prosciutto, it will shrink more, potentially creating a bunch of holes in your outer layer and causing part of the pork to cook faster than the rest. As well, the thickness of bacon will need a longer roasting time, which risks causing the pork to overcook and dry out.

Prosciutto, though more expensive, is paper thin, and cooks through quickly allowing the pork to cook faster too. The width of the pieces also allows you to get more coverage with less prosciutto, making for quicker and more consistent rolling before you put it in the fridge to chill. Finally, the thinness of the pieces prevents too much fat from entering the recipe, providing a crispy, salty exterior rather than a thick, fatty crust. The smaller amount of fat also causes the prosciutto to shrink less, ensuring that the pork is covered completely throughout roasting. Both will work fine, but we can't guarantee ideal results if you choose to use bacon instead.

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How to Make it

For the rub

Simply add all your rub ingredients into a bowl and mix it up. Set that mixture aside. If you are making this at dinner time, you can dice, chop, and mix this while the filling is sautéing. This will help you cut the cooking time of this recipe down.

For the filling

Heat olive oil in the pan at medium heat, then sauté your ingredients in the order of most to least starchy, sturdy, or fibrous. This means you should start with the apples, then the shallots, then the cranberries, herbs, salt, and pepper. The idea is that everything is equally cooked down and free of moisture at this stage, so the pork doesn't steam from the inside while roasting (The steam can overcook the pork, making it tough).

You should have a nice fond going in the pan at this point: deglaze with wine and cook until all the moisture has evaporated and the alcohol has cooked off. Set the filling aside to cool.

For the pork

If you don't have a knife sharpener, it's not a problem: butterflying the tenderloin may be a bit challenging, but you will still be able to get it done. However, if you do have a knife sharpener, break it out and get your blade as sharp as you can. It makes cutting raw meat a much less frustrating experience.

Take your knife, and run it lengthwise down the center of the loin. Don't go all the way through, as the goal is to open the tenderloin like a book, not create two separate pieces.

Cover the pork with plastic wrap to keep any pork debris contained, and pound the tenderloin flat with a mallet; It doesn't need to be paper thin, but it should be a uniform thickness throughout.

Spoon the filling onto the loin. Roll up your tenderloin from the widest end to the most narrow: Try to roll it up tightly.

Set up another piece of plastic wrap on the table, and begin laying slices of prosciutto on the plastic, overlapping by about an inch as you go. You should aim to create a large rectangle that seems way too large for a rolled up tenderloin. The prosciutto will shrink, so extra coverage will prevent the slices from revealing the pork below.

Spread your rub on the surface of prosciutto, leaving the edges bare. Place the loin right in the middle.

Use the plastic wrap to gently lay the prosciutto over the top (south, then north), then fold the sides over in any order.

Wrap the loin in the leftover plastic wrap, rolling it away from you while holding the sides. This will tighten the wrap of the plastic and compress everything together.

Place this bundle of joy in the fridge to chill for about an hour (or overnight if you aren't cooking it now). It's chilled enough when it can stay together without the plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take out the loin, unwrap it, and put it on a wire rack over a baking pan to roast. Bake it for 30-45 minutes, or until the pork is cooked to 145 degrees F. Once it hits that temperature, place it on a cooling rack or plate for 15 minutes.

Slice into rounds for serving, and enjoy!