Okay I' officially coming out as the worst Jew on record. Pork, Pig, Swine, whatever you call it, it is the best thing ever. Wrap me in bacon and stick a fork in me I'm done. I love pork is basically what I'm saying here readers. Allow me a moment to wipe the drool from my mouth and I will share with you our delicious dinner from last night. I got thumbs up from the entire family!!! And you will never guess what was inside this lovely piece of heaven.....SPINACH!!! Yes, my children eat spinach! In full disclosure it was smothered in above mentioned pork and cream cheese, but it was spinach!! I was amazed as Abbie exclaimed " I like this green stuff this way!!"
Ahh sweet success!!
My second success in this dish was the ability for me to implement the drum-o-sun dried tomatoes my Mama got me for Christmas. Please don't get me wrong, I appreciated and loved the gift, I just have never been a big fan of the oily little shriveled little treats. Well, let me tell you little did I know, I've just never had them in a dish where they were paired with appropriate flavors. They love pesto, cream cheese, spinach, and garlic...mmmmm!! My mouth is watering for the leftovers right now!! Although, I have not checked the fridge and Curty was home until 2 today. Yikes!!
Well before I go on my search I will share the recipe with you. I made a few mistakes during the actual implementation of this dish. The flavor was still there but not the Martha-like presentation. PPffftttt who cares! Ok, I do most of the time, but not this time.
4-5 Lb Pork Loin Roast
* Butterflied and pounded flat, will be about 3/4 of an inch thick. Taking your sharpest chefs knife, make a cut almost all the way through the roast lengthwise. As if you are trying to make two skinnier pieces. Be very careful to NOT cut all the way through. Continue with this process on the left and right of your original cut. You will be left with a large flat-ish lovely piece of piggy. (See first pic. as you can see it will not be totally flat and smooth, this is okay.) Using the smooth side of a meat tenderizer work on some of the thicker spots again being careful to not go through to the board. Liberally season both sides of the pork with garlic salt.
**Product note- I love Lawry's brand, it is my favorite. Very garlicky and not too salty. It is sold everywhere and has a lime green cap.
2 Packages Cream Cheese (softened to room temperature)
5 Tb. Crushed Garlic
Aprox. 15 Sun Dried Tomatoes (rinsed and drained, cut into little squares about 1/4 in. see pic.)
4 Tb. prepared pesto (this comes in a tube at Walmart now!!! Keep it in the fridge, you will use it in later recipes)
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper
Combine all above ingredients, spread on flattened piggy.
1 Package Fresh Baby Spinach
Place spinach in microwave safe bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap, leave a steam opening. Nuke on high for about a minute. No other ingredients are required, the spinach will steam and wilt perfectly! You aren't trying to kill it just soften it. Set the steamed spinach in the freezer for a few minutes to chill. Hot food on raw cold piggy is a BAD combo, so please follow this step.
Take chilled, cooked spinach and layer over your cream cheesed piggy. Cut strips of additional sun-dried tomatoes if you would like, this adds color, flavor and more Vitamin C. More veggie, more better!!
Ok so now you have a gorgeous Christmasy looking piece of pig, now the somewhat tricky part. You can do it, just try, be fearless!! Take your piggy and roll him up starting on a long side, tucking escaping ingredients as you go, your hands and cutting board will be a mess, but it's so worth it.
Preheat oven to 325
Now, the next step I unfortunately skipped due to lack of product. You really need butchers twine, this can be found in the gadget aisle of any grocery store, Walmart, Meijer, or wherever you shop. Tie this piggy up, no need to be neat...no need at all. The goal here is to keep the goodness inside!! Tie about 4 to 5 times.
Put about 5-6 Tb of olive oil in a dutch oven with a lid that is obviously ...oven safe. Place over med-high heat. Place tied up, stuffed piggy seam side down into hot pan. Watch your fingers, this will splatter a bit. Allow to sear on all sides, using tongs to carefully turn. You can see in my pic that I did not get a good sear, my lack of twine prohibited me from turning my piggy without losing all the filling. I don't profess to be perfect at all, some might question me posting this info of my partial fail, but I think it will be a lesson in "what not to do".
Place pounded, seasoned, stuffed, tied up piggy into oven at 325 with lid on. Roast for 15 minutes per lb. of original roast until meat reaches an internal temperature of 155. Allow meat to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing. (Remove string) You are going to have some delicious bits and pieces left in you pan, make it a sauce!!! Add 2 Tb. of butter and some heavy cream, about a cup for a creamy rich sauce. Want a lighter sauce and you are willing to part with precious vino?? Add the 2 Tb. butter and about a Cup of dry white wine. Whisk and heat until delicious, season with additional salt, garlic, and pepper if you like.
I served this meal with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, no recipe here readers. This is where you can tell I'm sooo not a Martha!! In the freezer section of your grocery store they have delicious pre-peeled, pre-boiled, cubed potatoes. They come in original russet, garlic, and sweet potato. A life saver!! After about 10 minutes in the microwave you simply add a little milk and butter. Just like homemade without all of the mess!!
I hope you take the time to make this, it was delicious!! 8 thumbs up here from Cake Girls house.
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