Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach and Gorgonzola
I love a nice pork roast, it’s tasty, versatile, and cheap. Don’t confuse the affordable roast with the pricey and also tasty little tenderloins. I like especially to butterfly the roasts and fill them with all kinds of yummy-ness. This week I brought home what looked like a three pound center cut pork roast from the grocery store with the plan to stuff it with Gorgonzola cheese. Buying a roast to butterfly at the grocery store where they are all cellophaned up was my mistake, this is really a time to visit a butcher so you know for sure you are getting a nice even center cut, I got an oddly shaped tail end. I made due. The pictures are not prefect but the taste was great. I must admit that the how butterfly and how to tie up the roast pictures are from my Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin Stuffed with Walnuts and Rice post because this roast was such a strange shape, sorry ya’ll. Once again I am reminded that shopping at butcher pays dividends when you cook.
On we go to the recipe. This is a nice fall meal: the rich blue cheese, toasty nutty pine nuts and earthy flavor of spinach. It is a great weeknight meal if you have just a little extra time to put into dinner this evening. I like it with a green veggie like broccoli or brussels sprouts. I added a little leftover saffron risotto from the dinner the night before to round out the meal. I like to reuse/re-purpose side dishes from one night to the next because it makes life simple for me, hint: no one complains about leftovers when the main course is new and exciting. I served this with a light spicy red wine, nothing to heavy but something to make me think about fall.
Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach and Gorgonzola
Ingredients
- 3 pound pork loin roast
- 3 shallots
- ½ cup toasted pine nuts
- 1 cup frozen spinach defrosted and wrung out
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- ½ cup of Gorgonzola
- Olive Oil
- Ground pepper
- Salt
Instructions
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Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Then butterfly your pork roast. If you don’t want to bother with this step yourself just ask your butcher to do it for you. Otherwise lay the roast out on your broad and with a sharp knife cut into the roast rolling it away from your blade like unrolling a rug . If you have any really thick spots feel free to even it up by pounding the fat parts out with a mallet. Set the roast aside.
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Next in a pan on the stove sauté the shallots for about three minutes over medium high heat in a little olive oil. When the shallots have started to soften add the spinach and a pinch of nutmeg. Leave on the heat until any remaining water in the spinach has evaporated.
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Lay the roast out flat and liberally season with ground pepper. Then add the hot spinach filling, the toasted pine nuts and a layer of Gorgonzola cheese. The easiest way to toast pine nuts is putting them on a baking sheet and popping them into the regular or toaster oven, just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
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Next roll up your roast, it should be pretty simple, and then tie it up with cooking twine. As this roast was an ugly mess I had to kind of Macgyver it into shape. Place the tied up roast into a shallow baking dish that you have sprayed with no stick spray.
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Depending on the size of the roast you will need 3-5 lengths of twine tied snugly. Don’t forget to cut the twin off when you serve. Bake the roast at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes per pound. Use a thermometer to be sure the roast is cooked through.
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Slice and arrange the roast on a platter before you bring to the table. Sprinkle extra pine nuts or Gorgonzola on each slice.
I made this roast and it is wonderful. It was to easy to prepare and my family loved it.