My mother always used to roast meats for celebrations. Roast chicken or pork neck were her favourite recipes. For Easter, though there was one unique piece of meat that appeared only that time of a year – prune-stuffed pork loin.
When I was a child, I never got why people would mix sweet prunes with something savoury, like meat. Thank God, the taste changes and my opinion about mixing those two as well. Now I love combining meat with different kind of fruits. Last year I developed a recipe for beef rolls with an apricot sauce, and each time we prepare wild meat, we eat lingonberry jam with it. I am very thankful that I get to share today my favourite recipe for prune-stuffed pork loin with you.
To ensure that the loin turns out as good as you wish, please make sure that you:
- don’t over-bake the pork loin (when I roast, I always check the temperature of the meat before I take it out of the oven. For pork that is at least 62C (145F), I kept it in the oven a little longer – see the recipe)
- marinate it well, so the meat has a flavour
- serve it with a delicious, but the delicate sauce
As soon as you get those right, you are going to be more than okay!
Prune-stuffed pork loin – Ingredients, Taste & Texture
Before you marinate your meat you need to stuff it with prunes, which is not so difficult, then you think! Take 15,5cm (6-inch) long and 3cm (1-inch) wide knife and make a hole in the middle of the pork loin. Now is time for stuffing! I can proudly say that I have managed to stuck 120g prunes in my 800g pork loin. But you keep on stuffing, when you still can 😉 If there are too many prunes inside the loin, they will likely go out when roasting, but don’t worry about it, the meat is still going to be delicious.
To give the pork loin a bit more character, I always marinate it properly. For my marinade, I use salt, pepper, garlic, mustard and herb de provenance. If you happen to like your meat less spicy from outside, you just need to reduce the amount of mustard, garlic and herb de provenance. So marinated pork loin lands in my fridge for at least 4 hours, or better, overnight.
Polish Prune-stuffed pork loin – Serving
Pruned-stuffed pork loin can be served in many different ways. My favourite is as a main course with mash potatoes and simple roast sauce. In Poland, it is also popular to cut it in thinner slices and eat it on the slice of bread covered with butter. That does not convince me – I rather eat it warm and fresh – straight from the oven! When you are serving your prune-stuffed pork for Easter, please check my horseradish sauce recipe!
Pruned-stuffed pork loin is roasted for any celebration in Poland: Easter, Christmas and birthdays. I allow you to prepare it anytime in a year though, it’s too good to be saved only a few times a year! I hope that you liked my recipe. Please share it in the comments how did it turned out and if you changed anything in the method.
Why I love it so much?
- it’s extremely juicy
- prunes and meat go so well together
Equipment I used:
– chopping board
– sharp knife
– casserole
More Polish dishes:
– Polish stuffed cabbage rolls
– Polish dumplings with potatoes and cream cheese
More Easy Polish Recipes:
– Traditional Polish Open-Faced Sandwich
– Traditional Polish Potato Pancakes with Sour Cream
Polish Prune-Stuffed Pork Loin
Equipment
Ingredients
For Marinade
- 1 tbsp herb de Provence
- 1 tbsp majoram
- 1 tbsp mustard flat
- 1 tsp salt
- 0,5 tsp black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
For Stuffing
- 150-180 g prunes without core (5-6 oz, 0,3-0,4 lbs)
- 800-1000 g pork loin (28-35 oz / 1,7-2,2 lbs)
- 150 ml water
For the sauce
- 15 g butter
- 15 g flour
- 200 ml meat juice, or meat broth, or both mixed together
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients for marinade and stuffing
- Take two small bowls. Fill the first one with 180g of prunes and check if they don't have any core. Set aside.
- In the second bowl mix together dry seasoning ingredients: herb de Provance, marjoram, salt, black pepper and mix them well. Add mustard and garlic and mix again to combine all the ingredients.
Prepare the pork loin
- Wash your meat in cold water and tap dry.
- Take aluminium foil big enough to wrap the whole piece of your loin. Take a long and thin knife (in my case: 15,5cm x 3cm (6-inch x 1-inch) and make a whole with it in the middle of the loin. You can make the hole a bit larger, but not too large!
- Stuff the loin with the prunes – see how much you can push in. I managed 150 g!
- When you are done with stuffing cover the meat with marinade from all the sides!
- Wrap it in an aluminium foil and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
Roast the meat
- Take the meat out of the fridge and let in rest in the room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Put your pork loin in a casserole, add the water.
- Place the baking dish in the middle of the oven and roast the meat for 45 minutes.
- After 15 minutes pour a bit of water and meat juices from the casserole over the meat. Repeat this action after 15 minutes.
- After 45 minutes check the temperature! The pork loin core temperature should be between 65°C (150°F) and 70°C (160°F).
- Take the meat out of the oven and after a few minutes remove it from the casserole. Keep the meat juices from the casserole!
Prepare a sauce
- Prepare the roux from flour and butter. Preheat the pan (medium heat) and melt butter in it. Slowly add flour and keep on stirring vigorously until ingredients combine.
- Reduce the heat to low and add little by little the broth. Take a whisk and stir.
- The texture of the sauce will be thick at first but when you keep on whisking it will become velvety and free of lumps.
- Let the roux cook for at least a minute.
- Correct seasoning. I usually add some more salt and pepper. The meat is already well marinaded so we want to sauce to be light and delicate in taste.
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