A showpiece roast that slices like a celebration: tenderloin opened like a book and rolled around bacon, cheese, prunes, and apple, finished with a silky wine sauce blended from its own roasting vegetables.
Ingredients
1 large pork tenderloin (800 g–1 kg); 150 g bacon slices; 100 g sliced cheese; 80 g pitted prunes; 1 small apple; 2 garlic cloves; olive oil; salt and black pepper; kitchen twine. For the sauce: 1 large onion; 2 carrots; 2 more garlic cloves; 200 ml white wine; 250 ml beef stock; 1 tsp mustard; olive oil.
Method
Butterfly the tenderloin open like a book and flatten it gently. Lay over the bacon, cheese, prunes, and thin slices of apple, season with pepper and the garlic, then roll it up tightly and tie with kitchen twine. Sear the roll in hot olive oil until browned on all sides. In the same pan, soften the chopped onion, carrot, and garlic for 6–8 minutes, pour in the wine and let it reduce for a few minutes, then add the stock and mustard. Tip the vegetables and sauce into an oven dish, set the tenderloin on top, and roast at 190°C for about 30–45 minutes, until the centre reaches 63°C. Blend the vegetables with the cooking juices into a smooth sauce. Rest the meat for 5–10 minutes, remove the twine, slice thick, and spoon the sauce over. Serve with roast potato wedges.
Tips
Resting the meat keeps every slice juicy; the apple and prunes give a sweet contrast to the smoky bacon; a simple meat thermometer is the surest way to avoid a dry tenderloin.
