Description
Grill-roasted stuffed pork loin. The method comes from Master of the Grill by America’s Test Kitchen. The recipe is based on the ideas from Steve Cylka of The Black Peppercorn.
This roast takes about 2 hours to cook.
Ingredients
- 1 boneless pork loin, 3.5–5 pounds
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1 Tbsp fennel seed, chopped coarsely
- 3 medium leeks, white and light-green parts only, sliced and rinsed
- 1 lb crimini mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 C (1 stick) butter
- 1 C breadcrumbs
- 1 C roasted, salted pistachios, chopped rather finely
- 1/2 C coarsely shredded Parmesan cheese
- 3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto (substitute other thin-sliced ham if desired)
- 2 Granny Smith apples
- Salt and pepper to taste
- BBQ rub of your choice (something on the sweet side is nice for this)
Instructions
Preheat your grill with a setup for indirect cooking. Use Smoke X2 and Billows to get the internal temperature up to 325°F (163°C) while you prepare the loin. Use some wood chunks for delicious smoked flavor.
Make the filling
- Chop the bacon and cook it in a large pan over medium heat. You want the bacon to get nice and cooked and to render all of its fat.
- Add the chopped fennel seed and cook in the fat for 15–30 seconds, until quite fragrant and toasty smelling.
- Drain the leeks well and add them to the pan, sauteing until they are well wilted, and start browning around some of their edges.
- Add the butter to the pan and cook to melt it.
- Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and stir, cooking until the mushrooms have cooked out a lot of their water and start to brown around the edges of the pan.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool somewhat.
- Stir in the breadcrumbs, pistachios, and Parmesan cheese.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper accordingly.
Butterfly the pork and stuff it
- Lay the pork on the cutting board and make a cut along the length of the loin, 1/2″ above the board and parallel to it. Continue this cut through the loin until the knife is about 1/2″ from the opposite side of the loin.
- Open the loin like a book, there will be a thick side and a thin side.
- Repeat this action on the new thick side, unrolling the pork loin as you go.
- Repeat a third time, if you can.
- Salt and pepper the surface of the pork loin
- Lay the slices of prosciutto on the surface of the loin, covering as much of it as you can, but not worrying that it is all covered.
- Spoon the mushroom filling onto the surface of the loin, atop the prosciutto. Spread it as needed to cover the loin by about 1/2″. You may have extra filling.
- Lay the thin-sliced apples atop the mushroom filling. You may have extra apple slices.
- Roll the pork loin back up.
- Tie the loin with butcher twine, making a knot about every inch along the length.
- Coat the exterior of the roast with a light dusting of BBQ rub.
Cook the roast
- Place the tied, seasoned roast in the grill and insert the meat probe from your Smoke X2 into the center of the roast.
- Set the high-temp alarm on the meat channel for 140°F (60°C) and cook the roast.
- When the alarm sounds, verify the temperature with a Thermapen®. If you don’t see a temperature lower than 140°F (60°C), remove the roast from the grill and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing it up. If you find any lower temperatures, adjust the position of your meat probe and continue to cook until the true lowest temp in the meat has reached your pull temp.
- Slice the roast and serve.
