Italian Stuffed Pork Loin

Italian stuffed pork loin is a wonderfully flavored roast that's perfect for holidays and gatherings. Pork loin is stuffed with a mixture of garlic, pignoli, orange zest, and rosemary, and roasted until golden on the outside, but incredibly moist and tender on the inside.

Italian stuffed pork loin is one of our favorite roasts to make for the holidays.  

While we also love porchetta, this stuffed pork loin is easier, quicker, and less expensive to make.

It's loaded with the same flavor combo of orange/rosemary/garlic/pignoli and is picky eater approved!

We love to serve stuffed pork loin with a variety of sides like garlic mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, baked cauliflower, or asparagus.

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. In the bowl of a food processor combine ¼ cup pignoli nuts, 2 tablespoons of fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves, ¼ cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley, 5 cloves of garlic, 3 tablespoons of orange zest, and ¼ cup of olive oil.  Blend until a paste is formed, adding more olive oil as needed if the mixture is too dry.  If you don't have a food processor, you can use a mortar and pestle or chop it all by hand.  Set the paste aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 350f and set a rack to the middle level.  With a very sharp knife, cut lengthwise about ⅓ from the bottom of a 3 ½ to 4-pound pork loin taking care to not cut all the way through.  If the loin is thick, you may need to continue cutting and unrolling it.  If the loin is thinner, it can be cut in the middle and simply be opened like a book after the initial cut.
3. Cover the unrolled loin with plastic wrap and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet.

4. Dry off both sides of the pork loin and place it fat side down.  Place 4-5 lengths of butcher's twine (about 2 inches apart) under the loin and season the inside of the pork with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and half of the paste.
5. Roll up the pork loin.

6. Once rolled, tie up the loin tightly with a double knot.
7. Season the loin with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and the remaining paste until it's completely coated. Place the loin in a baking dish or oven-safe pan.  If you have one, insert an oven-safe digital thermometer into the center of the roast so you can easily monitor the temperature of the pork and place it in the oven.

8. Roast the loin until the internal temperature reaches 135-140f, about 60-70 minutes.  Remove from the oven and tent with foil while it sits for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.  Enjoy!

Top tips

• The fat. The beautiful color on this roasted pork loin can be attributed to the fat.  While roasting, the fat gets ultra crispy and brown and is just wonderful. For this reason, it's important you place the fat side down when seasoning.  This will ensure that once rolled, the fat side is exposed to the outside.
• Rolling vs. not rolling. If you prefer to not roll the pork loin, you can leave it intact and cut slits into the loin in which you can stuff some of the paste.  Rolling will create a prettier presentation but not rolling is slightly easier, so do whichever you prefer!
• Temperature. Pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 140f. For this reason, I recommend using a digital oven-safe thermometer.  
• Pork tenderloin? A pork loin makes a lot of pork and for that reason is great for holidays or gatherings.  If you want to make a smaller version for fewer people, you can use a tenderloin.  You'd need less paste, and less cooking time, but the tenderloin should still be cooked to 140f.
• Sauce.  This stuffed pork loin is delicious as is and you don't really need a sauce.  But if you want one in about 15 minutes do this: transfer a ¼ cup of the fat drippings into a saucepan.  Saute 1 minced shallot in the drippings until soft over medium heat then add in a ¼ cup of flour and cook for 1 minute or until golden.  Whisk in 1 ½ cups of low-sodium chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and there you have a simple pork gravy.  

More roast recipes

Here are a few more roast meat recipes we think you'll love.  

• Boneless leg of lamb - roasted with rosemary and garlic.
• Roast chicken - with garlic butter, rosemary, and thyme.
• Turkey breast - dry brined and super moist.

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