Roasted pork loin stuffed with dried plums

Today I want to share a very simple recipe that will be perfect both as part of a festive dinner and as a homemade sandwich meat - aromatic pork loin stuffed with dried plums.

Pork loin prepared this way is juicy, delicate and it simply melts in your mouth, while sweet plums contrast nicely with seasoned roasted meat. I don't think it gets tastier and simpler than this!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

Turn on CC to watch the video.

 

List of ingredients

• 1 heaped tsp salt
• 1 heaped tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp dry marjoram
• 1 tbsp granulated garlic
• Boneless skinless pork loin (the piece in the picture weighed 1250 g when raw)
  
• 300 - 350 g dry plums
• 1 cup water
• 30 ml vegetable oil

Method

1. Put 1 heaped tsp salt, 1 heaped tsp ground black pepper, 1 tbsp dry marjoram and 1 tbsp granulated garlic into a small bowl. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly, just until a uniform spice blend forms.
2. Pat a piece of pork loin dry with a paper towel and, optionally, cut off unnecessary membranes and fat. A bit of fat will not be a problem.
3. Carefully cut through the middle of meat with a long sharp knife to form a deep pocket in the middle. My pork loin turned out to be longer than knife, so I had to make the cut on both sides. Widen the pocket lightly to make it easier to stuff it with plums.
4. Stuff the meat with dry plums straight way, making sure that there are no stones in them in the process. I fitted around 330 g of plums in, but the exact amount may depend on your pocket size and how tightly you put the plums together. Leave around 2 cm from the edges empty. Meat will shrink during roasting and plums may fall out and burn then.
5. Optionally, shape the meat using a twine. To do it, place pork loin on the edge of the cutting board and arrange a piece of twine in the middle of the board. Place meat on top of twine. Make a loop out of twine, put it onto meat and tighten it. Arrange the next loop around two, three cm away from the first one and repeat these steps until all of meat is tied up. Cut twine then and tie the ends into a knot. Make sure that twine goes through the pocket with plums - that will help keep them inside. Alternatively, if you're not using twine, you can close the pocket with a few toothpicks.
6. Scatter the spice mix you prepared all over the pork loin and rub spices into meat. Put the meat into a ziplock bag and push out excess air. Close the bag tightly and put it into a fridge for 24 hours.
7. On the next day, take meat out of the fridge around 2 hours before roasting. That will allow it to come to room temperature and roast a bit faster. Take meat out of the bag and put it into an ovenproof dish. Pour 1 cup of water into the bag to rinse spices out and pour water out into the ovenproof dish. Pour 30 ml of vegetable oil on top of meat.
8. Roast the pork loin in an oven preheated to 180 deg C, with fan, until the internal meat temperature reaches 63 deg C. I recommend using a meat thermometer for the best outcome. My pork loin weighed 1250 g when raw and it took exactly 1 hour 11 minutes to roast it. 1 kg piece of meat will require around 1 hour. During roasting, baste the meat with water and oil from the bottom of the dish every 20 minutes.
9. Take meat out of the oven once internal temperature reaches 63 deg C. If you are using a meat thermometer, put it into the meat in such a way that it is able to read the temperature inside. If you don't have a meat thermometer, check the juices by pricking the meat. You can take the meat out of the oven if they are clean. After roasting place the meat onto a chopping board and cover it with a piece of aluminum foil. Set the meat aside for 15 minutes to rest and come to temperature.
10. Enjoy!