My dad made for this New Year’s Day, and it was amazing. Like, 5 star restaurant amazing. Like, give the pork its own recipe photo shoot amazing.
You can stuff the roast and wrap in bacon a day ahead of time, which will allow the meat to absorb more of the flavors.
- 3 pound boneless Pork Loin
For stuffing:
- 1/4 lb. dried apricots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4 lb. pitted prunes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (Dad used cranberries)
- 2/3 cup ruby port
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 3/4 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tart apple such as Granny Smith, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- For roast:
- 1 (2- to 3-pound) boneless pork loin, butterflied
- 6 to 8 bacon slices
- Salt and pepper
- For port sauce:
- 1/2 cup ruby port
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 2 tsp. flour
- An hour before you plan to cook the meat, remove the loin from the fridge and rest, covered, on the counter.
- In a small saucepan with the lid on, simmer apricots, prunes (or other dried fruit) and port for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, still covered, for 10 minutes.
- Cook onion and shallot in butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add apple, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until apple is just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in apricot mixture and cool.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rub salt and pepper on the outside of the butterflied pork loin and then open the meat on a cutting board. Spread the cooled mixture in the middle. Close the loin and, using kitchen twine, tie the roast in several places to keep the filling in place. (I found that turning the stuffed loin on its side, with the crease on a cutting board and the open end on the top, allowed me to securely tie the meat without the stuffing falling out. Place strips of bacon on top of the loin.
- Put the stuffed and bacon-wrapped meat on a rack in a heavy roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 325 degrees and continue roasting for another 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the loin, until a thermometer registers 140 degrees. Transfer roast to a cutting board, reserving pan juices, and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Skim fat from pan drippings and reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons fat. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners and add port to drippings, then deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. (If your roasting pan is not suited for use on the stove-top, you’ll have to skip this sauce-making method.) Strain pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.
- Cook shallot in reserved fat in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in pan juices, 1 1/4 cups water and any reserved fruit stuffing and bring to a simmer. Whisk together flour and 1/4 cup water until smooth, then whisk into sauce with any juices from cutting board.
- Simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Carve roast, removing kitchen twine, if using, then serve with sauce. Serves 4 to 6.
