bacon wrapped honey smothered pork loin with herb polenta
This is THE SHIT. I’m sorry, I realize it’s my blog and I shouldn’t talk about how awesome my own stuff is, but this is for sure one of my all-time-favorites. 😀 It’s inspired by a dish I had in Budapest, Hungary – and have dreamed about ever since. I’ve made it several times, but honestly didn’t want to stop and take photos for the blog. No joke. This is crazy easy to make and it’s one of those meals that I eat ALL the leftovers from. I hope you give this one a go! The pork loin recipe was inspired by this awesome recipe with some minor tweaks.
Ingredients
Pork Loin
1 pork tenderloin, trimmed – 1.5-2 lbs
salt + pepper
1 tbs olive oil
10 pieces of bacon
1/4 cup honey
Herb Polenta
18 oz. pre-cooked polenta (I know, I know)
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup cream
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
salt + pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the pork loin of silver skin and excess fat if the butcher has not. Salt and pepper the pork loin on all sides. Heat a large sauce pan to medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the pan, then sear the pork quickly on all sides. Remove and set aside. Lay out the pieces of bacon onto a baking dish, and place pork in the center. Pour two tablespoons of the honey over the pork, then wrap the bacon tightly around the pork with the seam on the bottom. Top the bacon-wrapped pork with the rest of the honey. Mmmmmm. Pop this bad boy in the oven and cook for approximately 30 minutes, basting twice with the honey drippings. Test the pork’s internal temperature; it should reach 160 degrees.
While the pork is cooking, simply add the polenta to a sauce pan with the cream, butter, herbs and salt and pepper. Cook on low and mix continuously until heated through, warm and tasty!
Once the pork is done, remove and let rest for 10 minutes and baste one final time. Slice and serve with the creamy polenta and a fresh vegetable like roasted brussel sprouts. And please, do me a favor and take a bite of the pork WITH the polenta…YUM. 😀
Sounds delish! How large was the pork loin you cooked at 350* for 30 min?
PS: Pretty sure the “meat people” at my store would give me a blank look at the term “silver skin”.😂
PSS: There’s another yum pork loin featured in this month’s Cooking Light. Let me know if you want it.
Haha – I only know the term b/c of my fancy chef friend who taught me how to cook a pork loin years ago! 🙂 And gee, that would be a good thing to put in the recipe Annie – just updated! It was about 1.75 lbs, but really you just want to cook it until the internal temp reaches 160 – so you could use any size as long as you have a meat thermometer! And of course – am always looking for new yummy recipes!
YUM!! This looks like our kind of meal! I only recently discovered polenta (gasp!).
Girl, me too! It’s so easy and you can do so much with it – loving it! 😀
This looks like one I’ve gotta try! From the photo and description, it looks like a tenderloin? I only ask because pork loin at our grocery store is a much thicker cut – like a roast, whereas tenderloin is the skinny guy that usually comes cryovac-ed?
Woops! Yes, I’ll updated – it is a tenderloin. 😀
Wow, looks delicious!
Thank you, it is! Lol. 😀
I made a cracked peppercorn tenderloin alongside your recipe for this bacon-wrapped masterpiece for our family’s Christmas Eve dinner. Guess which one disappeared first? Thanks for the recipe—it was a huge hit!
Well you just made my day! I’m so glad your family liked it! 😀 Cheers!