Feast-ready pork loin with apricots: A savoury celebration
While preparing lunch for the Feast of the Epiphany, I aim to cater to the tastes of the invited guests. For those who enjoy traditional flavours, I'll prepare a pork loin stuffed with dried apricots. To ensure the meat is tender, juicy, and delicate, I handle it the day before. I place it in the refrigerator in a solution of table salt. I pour boiling water over the dried apricots. There's no better recipe for a roast.
Roast for a family lunch works well not only because it suits the guests' tastes, but also for practical reasons. If there are leftovers, I have a supply of deli meat for sandwiches in the fridge. Pork loin with apricots, sliced thin, pairs excellently with tartar sauce and pickled cucumbers.
How to prepare pork loin roast with apricots?
For roasted pork loin with apricots, pieces of meat from the neck side, with a small amount of fat, work best. The purchased pork should be washed and dried. Then it's worth kneading it with your hands to soften the fibres. Place the entire pork loin in a pot and cover it with cold water and a 30 mL salt solution. Set aside in the refrigerator overnight.
What to serve with roasted pork loin with apricots?
Roasted potatoes or other oven-baked vegetables, such as peppers, zucchini, carrots, or eggplant, pair excellently with the roast. A fresh salad with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and a light vinaigrette complements this meal. It's worth serving a sauce made from the fat rendered from the meat during roasting. This sauce only needs to be thickened with cornstarch. You can add cream or red wine—it’s hard to choose which variant is better.
Recipe for pork loin with apricots
For the roast, choose fresh meat from a good source and use soft dried apricots. Then you won't need to soak them.
Ingredients:
- 1000 grams of boneless pork loin,
- 30 mL of salt,
- 110 grams of dried apricots,
- 30 mL of olive oil,
- Spices for rubbing the meat: 5 mL each of thyme, oregano, paprika, pepper, and salt,
- 120 mL of broth,
- 120 mL of orange juice,
- 2 cloves of garlic.
Instructions:
- Place the pork loin in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours in a water and salt brine.
- If the apricots are hard, pour boiling water over them and set aside for at least 2 hours.
- Remove the meat from the brine, dry with a paper towel, and knead with your hands.
- Pierce the meat with a sharp knife to create a small tunnel in the centre. Insert apricots one by one into the tunnel.
- Rub the meat with olive oil mixed with spices. Briefly sear on each side in a hot pan to seal the fibres.
- Transfer to a baking dish and pour in the broth and orange juice. Add the halved garlic cloves to the roasting pan.
- Place in an oven preheated to 175 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.
