Cassie’s Ruminations

Italian Stuffed Pork Loin

As promised, we’re going another round with stuffed pork. This time I got a pork loin roast and butterflied it. We did go with an Italian set of flavors, which I think worked out very well. Shaun and I thought it was company quality! I’m quite proud of my experimenting 🙂

Italian Stuffed Pork Loin
Serves 6

1 pork loin, about 3 lbs total weight

For the filling:
2 oz bacon (about 2 strips), diced
4 oz small button mushrooms, diced
1 clove garlic, pressed
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
4 oz pitted kalamata olives, diced
1 tbsp fresh basil, minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, minced

For the top:
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a skillet, brown the bacon pieces until crisp. Remove to a bowl, leaving the fat in the skillet. Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper, and garlic, and saute until tender. Add the olives, herbs, and bacon to the skillet and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.

Butterfly the pork loin, making 2 horizontal cuts lengthwise, one from each side, to make the meat into a sort of a Z. Unfold the pork and set it flat in a baking dish. If necessary, use a meat mallet to even out the thickness.

Spoon the stuffing mixture across the the pork loin, leaving about an inch all the way around the edges. Gently roll the pork lengthwise and tie it together with kitchen twine. Season the top and sides of the roast with kosher salt, black pepper, and dried oregano.

Cook until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the pork reaches 160 degrees F, about 1 hour 30 minutes.