Pocini and Sun Dried Tomato Pork Roll

In preparation for my kitchen remodeling project, about which I hope to post in the near future, I thought I would cook out of my freezer and pantry for a while.  After all, I will need to unplug my fridge and transfer the remaining contents to the basement one, which is full of venison, so the less in my freezer, the better; I hate to see good food go to waste.  Truth be told, if I decide not to go grocery shopping for a few months, aside from fresh fruits, veggies and milk, my family can survive on the stuff I have hoarded in my cupboards and freezer.  Heck, I can probably feed the whole neighborhood in case of a natural disaster… God forbid.  And these would not be canned or frozen food choices; we are talking beautiful ingredients for gourmet dinners.  Next time your power is out, you know where to go…

So let’s see… what do we have… a pork loin, some dried porcini mushrooms, some sun dried tomatoes… good, sounds like a grand solution to my son’s every day school sandwich problem.  And this will not be any type of ordinary lunch meat, this pork roll will be good enough to pile on sandwiches or serve as the main course… but mostly cut little pieces of and eat hastily over the sink the minute we all step through the door in the evening.  You know, the perfect snack to tie you over till dinner.

Porcini and Sun Dried tomato Pork roll.

1 large pork loin

½ cup dried porcini

½ cup sun dried tomatoes

2 cups fresh button or baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 tbs chopped parsley

Olive oil

1 cup of dry white wine

½ cup apple juice or apple cider

3 tbs soy sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Prepare the pork loin by cutting into it at an angle.  Working slowly with the full edge of a butcher’s knife, cut it into a flat sheet, approximately ¼ inch thick.  Or ask your butcher to do it…

Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the porcini and the sun dried tomatoes.  Let them soak for 15-20 minutes.  Drain and reserve the liquid (discard the grit at the bottom). 

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion on low / medium heat until soft, add garlic and sauté another minute or so.  Add the fresh mushrooms and cook until they are tender.  Add chopped porcini and sun dried tomatoes.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat, add chopped parsley and transfer the whole mixture to the bowl of a food processor.

Flattened pork loin

Pulse the mixture until just combined and not to pasty.  You want the filling to have some texture.  Season the flattened pork loin with salt and pepper on both sides.  Spread one generously with the mushroom filling and roll the whole thing up tightly.

Secure the rolled up pork with kitchen twine, making sure to tie it both vertically and horizontally.

Preheat a heavy bottom, oven safe pot.  Add a few tbs of olive oil and sear the roll on all sides on high heat, until it is brown and crusty on all sides.  Turn off the heat, pour the wine, apple juice and soy sauce over the Pork roll.  Transfer to the preheated oven.  Bake uncovered for 1 to 1.5 hrs, depending on the size of your roll.  Turn the occasionally so that all the sides can take advantage of the beautiful pan sauce that will form on the bottom of your pan.

Cool fully before cutting, although you can serve it warm, cold, room temperature, whatever.  Try it on a piece of crusty sourdough bread with some spicy brown mustard. 

How is that for cold cuts?