Sunday, April 13, 2008

Chorizo, Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork


I made this up as I went along, and wasn't quite sure it would work. But after tasting it, my husband said he would pay for it in a restaurant. Thanks, Babe! ;)

What I liked about it was that I used a small number of ingredients (6-9 including seasonings) and the cooking time was short (under 30 minutes). And the finished product looks fabulous, although I'm not sure my picture does it justice.

For this recipe you will need:
One pork tenderloin, one box frozen chopped spinach, one cup chicken stock, two Chorizo sausage links, one small onion, 3/4 cup goat cheese and seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika).

To prepare:
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees
  • Chop sausage links and onion.
  • Defrost spinach in microwave.
  • Add sausage and onion to fry pan over medium heat to brown sausage and cook onions. You can add some olive oil if you want here, but I found the sausage released enough oil while browning.
  • While that is cooking, take defrosted spinach and drain as much water out as possible (I used a clean kitchen towel to wring it dry) and add to fry pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon to combine with sausage.
  • Add chicken stock and goat cheese to fry pan, and remove from heat once combined.
  • Butterfly the pork tenderloin.
Here's where I went a bit off of my original plan to stuff and roll the tenderloin. I realized I made too much stuffing, and instead of adding only half and reserving the remaining, I dumped the entire spinach/sausage/cheese mixture on top of the butterflied tenderloin. Read on for how I finished it...
  • Place the tenderloin into a baking dish with sides (like Pyrex) and make sure half of the tenderloin fits on the bottom of the dish (it's OK if the other half hangs out, we'll fix that in a minute).
  • Pour the stuffing mixture on top of the tenderloin, using the back of your spoon to spread it all over the bottom half.
  • Bring the top half of the pork tenderloin over the top, making a taco-like fold. Some of the stuffing will spill out, and that's OK.
  • Season the top of the tenderloin with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika to taste.
  • Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 165 (be sure to take temp of pork and not the stuffing).
  • Allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
I decided to cut it into about 3 inch across slices, and plated by spooning some of the extra stuffing that spilled out into the pan on top of each slice. It was delicious and I will definitely make this one again.

I just love it when a plan goes wrong but turns out so right! ;)

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