Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Poached Pear and Blue Cheese sounds much fancier than it really is!

Now I have to tell you that I do not cook pork often at all – unless it is bacon of course! And there is no good reason for this; but being the cheap skate that I am when I saw Pork Tenderloin on special at the supermarket for $13.99 per kilo I figured it was worth a shot 🙂

When cooked to the right temperature of 145° and left slightly pink; pork is tender and juicy. Forget that rubbery meat you may have add years ago when our mum’s thought pork needed to be ‘well-cooked’.

I poached a pear in white wine however you could use a tin of pears – they will be just as good, and certainly much quicker.

Ingredients

• 450g pork tenderloin
• 1 Bosc pear (1 cup once diced)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• salt & cracked black pepper
• 6-8 strips streaky bacon
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock

1. Heat the oven to 200°c.
2. Dice the pear and together with the white wine put in a small saucepan. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the pears are nice & soft – about 6 minutes.
3. While the pears are cooking, slice the pork tenderloin down the center – slice almost all the way through the tenderloin, and then lay it flat.
4. Once the pears are soft, pile them onto the middle of the pork tenderloin. Next top the pears with the crimped blue cheese. Press the mix down as you pull the tenderloin together wrapping it in streaky bacon firmly. (Overlap the bacon as  you go & then you won’t need to use butcher’s twine).
5. Season the pork tenderloin and sear the meat in a hot pan with olive oil – about 2-3 minutes until it has browned. Roll the tenderloin in the pan to ensure all sides brown.
6. Put the pork tenderloin in a small roasting pan with olive oil and rosemary sprigs to bake.
7. Check the tenderloin in 12 minutes, it should be at 145° with a meat thermometer.
8. Rest the tenderloin for 5 minutes under foil before slicing – resting is an important step – the juices stay inside the meat making it even more tender.
9. While the tenderloin is resting pour the chicken stock into the roasting pan that your just took the pork out of. Simmer over a medium het, scrapping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get any browned bits of meat up. Let this reduce and thicken which will only take about 5 minutes creating an easy sauce.

Look out for Pork Tenderloin at your local supermarket or butcher – it is simple to prepare and looks pretty special when you present the meal to your family or dinner guests.

Try stuffing with different flavours: spinach, sun-dried tomato & feta would be delicious? Even sliced ham, camembert cheese and apricot would be good – there are lots of combinations to try.

Happy cooking xx