The crispy peppered bacon enveloping this tender pork loin is a great foil to the sweet fruit and squash filling. A little of this impressive entrée goes a long way, so it’s great for entertaining.
Bacon-Wrapped Squash- and Apple-Stuffed Pork
Makes 6-8 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups (½-inch) diced delicata squash (about 1 large)
- 1 cup (½-inch) diced Honeycrisp apple (about 1 medium)
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
- 1 (3- to 3½-pound) pork loin, trimmed
- 1 (16-ounce) package thick-cut peppered bacon
- 4 small sprigs fresh rosemary
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Garnish: fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, stir together squash, apple, onion, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; spread in a single layer.
- Bake until squash is just tender, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Remove mixture from skillet, and let cool completely. Wipe skillet clean. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
- Place pork loin lengthwise on a cutting board, with one short end closest to you. Holding your knife parallel to the bottom of the loin, make a lengthwise cut along the bottom-third of one long side (image A). Open meat at incision as if you were opening a book (image B).
- Again, holding your knife parallel to the cutting board with the blade facing the thicker side of the loin, make another lengthwise cut along the thicker side of the loin, cutting to within ½ inch of the other side. Again, open meatat incision as if you were opening a book (image C).
- Using the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin, flatten any thicker portions of meat until you have an even thickness throughout. Do not flatten meat any thinner than ½ inch thick.
- On a large piece of parchment paper, arrange bacon slices into strips, slightly overlapping. Place loin, cut side up, in center of bacon slices. Sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining ½ teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary onto pork. Spread squash mixture to within ½ inch of edges of loin.
- Starting at one long side, roll up bacon, loin, and filling into a log (image D). Using kitchen twine, tie loin closed at 2-inch intervals (image E). Carefully transfer loin, seam side down, to same skillet; arrange rosemary sprigs around pork in skillet.
- Bake until a meat thermometer inserted in center of pork registers 165°, about 1 hour. Increase oven temperature to broil. Broil until bacon is browned and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove loin from skillet, and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place skillet with drippings over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in broth and vinegar until smooth. Cook, whisking frequently, until sauce thickens, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with pork loin. Garnish with rosemary, if desired.
Must be good as copied and printed on page 48-49 in the 2023 Jan/Feb Cooking With Paula Deen.
There are 6-7 recipes copied in the same issue that were taken from this group and made to look like they were hers. Sad.