Serves 2.
- Prep time: 25min
- Cook time: 45min
- Total time: 1h 10min
- Difficulty: Intermediate
Roasted apples, fennel and red onion are the perfect match to roasted pork tenderloin. The flavors balance each other beautifully and give the meal a lovely freshness. This recipe was adapted from Eating Well. Although it does not really need an additional side dish, I like serving with crispy Rosemary polenta chips.
Ingredients:
- 1 pork tenderloin (about 500g)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- some salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon wholegrain Dijon mustard
- pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 large fennel bulb, cut into large chunks
- 1 large purple onion, cut into large chunks
- 1 large cooking apple, cut into chunks
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- few rosemary springs
- some salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the fennel, apple and onion into a baking dish together with garlic cloves and rosemary springs. Season with salt and pepper and toss with olive oil.
Toast the fennel seeds in dry frying pan for one minute and roughly crush them in your mortar and pestle. Season the meat with salt and pepper and rub the fennel seeds over it. Heat olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and sear the meat on all sides on medium-high heat until golden-brown and slightly caramelized. Transfer the meat on top of prepared vegetables and roast for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and the juices from the meat run clear. Wrap the meat into aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, return the searing pan on medium heat. Add vinegar and balsamic vinegar and scrape all the browned meat pieces from the bottom of the pan. Add Dijon mustard and chili flakes and cook on medium heat for couple of minutes or until the sauce reduces a bit and becomes sticky.
Commentary.
Category: Meat
I really love pairing meat with fruit. It just makes a perfect accompaniment to any meat dish and has an incredible ability to freshen the dish up, make it juicy, bright and succulent. Apples, for instance, go well with pork. In Germany you would typically get roast pork with apples and braised red cabbage. For a lighter version, use fennel instead of cabbage and roast it together with meat and apples.