Roast Loin of Pork a la Provencale is a traditional French recipe (from the Provencal region) for a classic dish of roast loin of pork stuffed with a mix of pork sausage meat, Parmesan cheese, mushrooms and herbs. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic French version of: Roast Loin of Pork a la Provencale.
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This dish is much easier if you ask your the butcher to skin, chine and bone the loin of pork, so that it will be easier to carve when roasted. Basically you're looking for a joint made from 6 chops, so that it will serve six people (it should be about 1.5kg).
Ingredients:
1.5kg loin of pork, boned, skinned and chined
6 dried mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves
freshly ground black pepper
salt
few sprigs of parsley, to garnish
For the stuffed vegetables:
15g butter
3 tbsp finely chopped onion
225g pork sausage-meat
6 tbsp freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp finely-chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 tsp finely-chopped fresh chives
6 large ripe tomatoes
175g large white mushrooms, with stems removed
Method:
Wash the dried mushrooms then soak them in warm water for about half an hour. Pour the mushrooms and their soaking water into a small pan and allow to simmer gently until the mushrooms are soft and swollen, and the water has almost evaporated. Drain off any remaining liquid and cut any hard ends off the mushroom stalks. Reserve three of the mushrooms then slice the remaining 3 mushrooms into 4 strips, making 12 strips in all.
Slice one garlic clove into 12 slivers, reserve the other garlic clove for later use. Using a very sharp knife make 12 deep slits into the pork fat and insert a strip of mushroom and a sliver of garlic deep into each slit. Season the joint liberally freshly-ground black pepper but only rub salt into the fat. Allow to stand at room temperature for 2 hours then transfer to a roasting tin and place in an oven pre-heated to 200°C (400°F/Gas Mark 6), allowing it to cook for abut 90 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. You will get a better flavour and juicier meat if you base the meat occasionally with the pan juices (add a little water if the pan juices begin to dry and burn.
Whilst the meat is cooking you can begin to prepare the stuffed vegetables. Finely-chop the remaining garlic then add the butter to a small pan and use this to fry the onion and garlic for about 4 minutes, or until soft. Take off the heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile chop the remaining dried mushrooms very finely and add to a bowl along with the sausage meat, the cooled onion mixture, Parmesan cheese, parsley, tarragon and chives. Mix the ingredients to combine thoroughly then season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Slice off the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds, taking care not to break the shells. Lightly sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with salt, then leave them upside down on a rack for a few minutes, to drain. Wipe the large mushrooms clean. Stuff the tomatoes and mushrooms with the sausage-meat mixture, smoothing the top surfaces neatly. Then, about 30 minutes before the pork is done place the stuffed tomatoes around the joint and 10 minutes later add the stuffed mushrooms. Complete the cooking so that the pork and vegetables are done at the same time.
Transfer the roast pork to a hot serving platter, surround it with the stuffed tomatoes and mushrooms and garnish with a few sprigs of parsley. Remove any excess fat from the roasting tin by blotting with absorbent paper, then moisten the pork and stuffed vegetables with the remaining juices. Serve the joint immediately.
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