Garlic lovers rejoice! This delicious pork loin recipe calls for 10 cloves, along with several other spices that you likely already have on hand. You might also appreciate that you have to open that bottle of wine early as it’s an ingredient on the list.
Total Time: Prep: 15 mins Cook: 1 hour 30 mins
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
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1 3lb boneless pork loin
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1 cup chopped pancetta or bacon
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10 garlic cloves, peeled
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2 tablespoons fennel seeds
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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2 tablespoons dry red wine
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1 tablespoon fresh sage. chopped or 1 teaspoon dried sage
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1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
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½ teaspoon ground black pepper
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6 bay leaves
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1 ½ cups (or more) chicken stock
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2 fennel bulbs, tops trimmed, bulbs cut into thin wedges
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Lemon wedges
Instructions:
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Blend the first 8 ingredients in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped.
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Using the tip of a small sharp knife, make about twenty 1 ½ inch-deep incisions all over pork loin.
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Press 1 generous teaspoonful of pancetta paste into each incision, rub remaining paste over the outside of the pork.
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Arrange bay leaves in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place pork loin atop the bay leaves.
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Cover and let pork stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle pork with salt.
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Roast 45 minutes.
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Pour ½ cups of chicken stock into the pan. Continue to roast until a thermometer inserted into the centre registers 155 degrees F, adding more stock if it evaporates and baste occasionally with pork juices and add the fennel, roast for an additional 45 minutes
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Transfer pork to a cutting board and discard the bay leaves.
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Transfer the pan juices to a small sauce pan and skim the fat from the top of the juices. Boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
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Cut pork into ½ inch slices and transfer to platter. Pour juices over the pork and surround with fennel and lemon wedges (squeeze lemon over the fennel at the table)
Enjoy this dish with Vin Bon Pinot Noir and 3 of your closest friends.
Serves 4.
