Stuffed Pork Loin Roast With Port Cranberry Sauce makes a streamlined Holiday meal or great fall Sunday dinner.
This meal is so full of fall flavours! I have to say I enjoyed this one more than many!
The Menu
You are going to make a bread stuffing mixture, butterfly a boneless pork loin roast and wrap the roast around the stuffing. You will have extra stuffing that you can bake separately.
The Port Cranberry Sauce is absolutely delicious! It is served warm which is a nice comforting touch. It is not as sweet as the usual jellied cranberry sauce which is another bonus.
I also served these Broiled Apples and Pears with Rosemary as a side and a delicious Fall Corn Salad that features grilled (or broiled) green onions. I also couldn't resist adding these delicious, soft, fluffy Sweetened Condensed Milk Dinner Rolls. (They got lots of oohs and ahhs at the table!)
With the bread stuffing and the rolls and the starch from the corn salad I didn't feel the need to serve potatoes. You certainly could if you have a real 'meat and potatoes' gang at your house.
But I do have to say that without the potatoes and gravy it was still a rich meal but not the kind that makes you go into a coma when you leave the table.
Chef's Tips for Stuffed Pork Loin With Port Cranberry Sauce
- You can use whole fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over, or frozen whole cranberries in the Port Cranberry sauce.
- Start with the Port Cranberry sauce because a) you can make it a day ahead if you like and b) you can use the aromatic solids from the sauce to give your stuffing extra depth.
- For the stuffing I happened to have some of my Orange Pecan Cranberry loaf left over from my Apricot Glazed Cornish Hen recipe so I used that. You can use any rustic flavoured bread or the bread that you see at holiday time that is already seasoned with poultry spices.
- If you really want to streamline it you could use a packaged stuffing mix. I would make it up using their instructions. ie Don't put it in the roast dry.
- For the pork roast- an instant read thermometer is the most reliable way to ensure it is cooked properly. The stuffing in the middle temperature must be hot enough to ensure the juices from the roast have arrived at the right temperature. There isn't really a visual for it like there would be for the meat.
Wine Pairing for Stuffed Pork Loin With Port Cranberry Sauce
As you can see above I paired this meal with a white Burgundy (Chardonnay). A rich Chardonnay with notes of apple orchard, brioche, lightly oaked is a wonderful match here for the stuffing and roast apples and pears.
A lightly oaked Chenin Blanc would also work or consider a Sparkling that has descriptors like orchard apples, orchard fruits and/or pastry notes or brioche.
On the red spectrum - this meal does not have a lot of fat so you don't need a lot of tannins here. Something fruity and slightly spicy like a Merlot, A GSM blend or even a Beaujolais would work. An Italian Barbera would also be interesting here.
Stuffed Pork Loin Roast
Equipment
- Kitchen twine or strong thread
- Turkey skewers (optional)
Ingredients
Stuffing
- 2 Tbsps butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- solids from Port Cranberry Sauce (recipe below) or additional1 cup of diced onion, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 2 ½ tsps dried thyme
- 4 cups bread cubes in ½" dice I used Orange Cranberry Pecan Bread. Or use other rustic seasoned bread.
- ¾ cups chicken broth
Pork Loin Roast
- 3 lb center Pork Loin Roast
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
Stuffing
- Melt the butter in a large skillet. Soften the onions and celery until translucent- about 8 minutes.
- Add garlic and spices and cook 1 minute more. If you are using the solids from the Port Cranberry Sauce add them to the skillet at this point.
- Add bread cubes and chicken broth. Mix well to moisten and soften. Allow mixture to warm through.
Pork Loin Roast
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Trim most of the visible fat cap from top of roast. A thin patch here and there will help to keep roast moist during cooking. Reserve a strip to place over the seam that will be on top of stuffed roast.
- With a sharp knife cut down into the roast, lengthwise, about half way. Turn the knife to the one side and cut horizontally stopping about 1 12" from the edge. Repeat to slice the other side of the roast. You should be able to 'open' the two side flaps and have roast almost lay flat.
- Lay 3 kitchen twine strings horizontally on your work surface. Position the butterflied roast so the twine is evenly distributed with one an inch or so from each end and one in the middle.
- Take stuffing and form a log lengthwise in center of the roast. Pack the stuffing and use as much as you can but top seam should meat. Transfer any excess to a separate casserole to heat separately in the oven.
- Close up the roast. Pull the twine as tightly as you can and knot it to hold the roast together. A second set of hands is helpful here. You can also use turkey skewers on the seam to help keep the roast tightly close.
- Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper.
- Lay a strip of the reserved fat cap along the seam to help keep the edges moist.
- Oil the bottom of a baking dish or line with a wire rack.
- Place roast in baking dish and cook about 1 ½ hours until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Cover casserole of excess stuffing an put in oven 20 minutes before roast will be done. When done remove roast from the oven and tent loosely with foil for 10 minutes. Ensure extra dressing is well heated through.
- Cut away twine from roast. Slice 1-2" thick and serve with Port Cranberry Sauce.
Nutrition
Port Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Tbsps butter
- 1 cup yellow onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 2 tsps fresh, minced
- 2 ½ tsps dried thyme or 5 Tsps fresh, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ⅔ cup orange juice
- 1 cup cranberries whole fresh or frozen
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup Tawny Port
- 2 tsps corn starch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Sauté onions about 8 minutes until translucent. Add garlic, rosemary and thyme and cook 1 minute further.
- Add broth and orange juice and boil until liquid is reduced to about ¾ of a cup. This may take 5-8 minutes.
- Strain sauce into a saucepan. (Reserve solids - if you are making stuffing you can add them to the dressing. See Recipe Note below.)
- Add cranberries and sugar and boil until berries pop - about 5 minutes.
- Mix port and cornstarch in a jar and shake well to blend. Add mixture to the sauce and boil a few minutes until sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper and stir well. (Sauce can be made a day ahead of time.)
- Serve warm.
Charlene Bednarz
always look here for the best recipe...
Carolyn Hetke
Thanks so much for the vote of confidence!