Roasting the apples for this sauce brings out another layer of sweetness that goes perfectly with pork.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
Timing: 1 hour 20 minutes
Notes: The pork loin can be prepped and rolled and kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours ifyou're hosting and want to get ahead with prep.
For the pork loin:
- 2 red peppers
- 1 pork tenderloin
- 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
- 5 slice of Parma ham
- Handful baby spinach leaves
- 4-6 slices mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Sea Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 large baking potatoes
- 1 tbsp of unsalted butter for the potatoes
For the roasted applesauce:
- 3 cooking apples, peeled, cored and halved
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 lemon
You will need:
Chunk of Applewood
Method
- Turn on your gas BBQ to a medium heat. Roast the peppers over the coals until charred, remove from the heat, scrape away the char, then deseed and roughly slice. Leave to cool.
- Butterfly the pork loin out and flatten with a meat mallet or rolling pin.
- Spread the mustard over the pork and season with salt and pepper. Layer the parma ham, spinach and sliced roasted peppers over the pork, until the surface is covered. Top with the slices of mozzarella.
- Roll the pork loin up and, using butcher's string, tying at one inch intervals along the length of the loin to seal into a roll.
- Season the outside with the fennel seeds and garlic powder. Leave in the fridge for 30 mins or even overnight, if prepping ahead.
- Turn the heat on the grill to the highest setting and place the wood chunks on the cooking surface, over the direct heat side.
- Pierce potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in tinfoil and place on the warming rack or indirect side. Close the lid until the wood starts to smoulder, which should take about 15 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to a medium setting and close the lid.
- Place the pork to the coolest side with the smouldering chunks on the other side. Allow to cook for 45 mins – remember, if you're looking, you ain't cooking.
For the roasted apple sauce:
- Peel, core and half the apples. Brush the apples with oil and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.
- Roast the apples over the medium heat-allow to caramelise, turning them halfwaythrough the cook. This should take about 30 minutes.
- Remove the apples from the BBQ, and place into a jug with the lemon juice. Blitz with a hand blender to a smooth pureé and set aside.
- Serve the apple sauce with the sliced pork loin and buttered baked potatoes.
- Back to the pork:
Check your pork with a meat thermometer – the internal temperature of the meat should be 75C. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
