Pork Roast with Bella Viva Fruits and Port

Description

This recipe was adapted by Katie G. from a recipe originally found on Epicurious. She recommends stuffing and wrapping the roast at least 24 hours in advance.

Instructions:

Stuffing:
¼ pound Bella Viva Dried Apricots, cut into ½-inch pieces
¼ pound Bella Viva Dried Zante Currants
2/3 cup ruby port
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
¾ stick unsalted butter
1 tart apple such as Granny Smith, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces

Roast:
1 6 pound bone-in pork loin roast (10 ribs), frenched, at room temperature 1 hour
9 or 10 bacon slices

Port Sauce:
½ cup ruby Port
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 ½ cups water, divided
2 teaspoons arrowroot

Instructions

For stuffing, simmer apricots, prunes or used currants, and Port in a small heavy saucepan, covered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Sauté onion, shallot and garlic in butter over medium heat in a 12-inch heavy skillet. Stir occasionally until softened for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add apple and ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper and continue cooking. Stir occasionally until apple is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in apricot mixture and cool.

For the roast, preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle. Create a pocket in center of roast by making a horizontal 1 ½-inch-wide cut into one end of roast with a long thin knife. Repeat from the opposite end so pocket runs all the way through. Then make a vertical cut through center, forming a cross, to widen pocket. Push about one cup of stuffing into the pocket using a long-handled wooden spoon, you may need to stuff from both sides if roast is long. Reserve remaining stuffing for sauce.

Season roast with 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and put in a large flameproof roasting pan. Wrap with bacon, between rib bones, tucking ends under roast. Roast pork 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 325°F and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted 2 inches into center of roast (do not touch bone or stuffing) registers 155°F, 1 ¼ to 1½ hours total. Transfer roast to a cutting board, reserving pan, and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 to 20 minutes. The temperature of meat will rise to about 160 °F and it will be slightly pink.

For sauce, skim fat from pan drippings and reserve 1 ½ tablespoons fat. Add Port to drippings, then deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Strain pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Sauté shallot in the reserved fat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in pan juices, 1 ¼ cups water and reserved fruit stuffing, bring to a simmer. Whisk together arrowroot and remaining ¼ cup water until smooth, then whisk any juices from cutting board into the sauce. Simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Carve roast into chops by cutting between ribs, then serve with sauce.