Tapenade Stuffed Pork Loin

I decided to move away from making a ham for Christmas and made these two tapenade stuffed pork loin roasts on my Big Green Egg instead. One has a green olive tapenade and the other uses a black olive tapenade.

This recipe is based on Steven Raichlen's version in his book, How to Grill.

This is a very tasty dish, looks great and is easy to make. Here are some pictures of how I made them.

Tapenade is "olive paste" and consists of olives, garlic, capers, oregano, Dijon mustard, black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. I don't like capers, so I leave them out. Add them if you wish. Grind these ingredients in a food processor until you get a paste.

First, butterfly the pork loin to about a half-inch thickness. I used a sharp knife and pulled the "flap" as the knife slices the meat. Next, spread the tapenade onto the roast.

Here's the tricky part: Roll it up to make a tubular roast, and tie it up. To do this, lay out parallel pieces of string about an inch apart on a cutting board or baking sheet, as you can see below. Place strips of bacon (or even better, pancetta) on top of the strings. As you can see, the bacon is a little short. I added some more strips after this picture was taken.

Next, place the pork loin on top, perpendicular to the bacon and string. I find the easiest way to roll the roast is to gather one set of strings in one hand and lift and pull the strings so the entire length comes up. Continue pulling the strings and, with your other hand, guide and roll the roast into a cylinder. This is harder to describe than to actually do. Maybe a video is needed. Hands are too messy to use the camera at this step, so here's what they look like when rolled up.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling. When the grill is ready (300F / 149C to 350 F / 177 C), place the roast onto the grill. These roasts were so big, I had to curve them on the grill grate.

Cook until the internal temperature reaches 160F / 71C.

Let it rest and cut the roast into one-half inch thick slices.

Depending on how nicely you butterflied the roast, the tapenade will make a nice spiral inside. As you can see, I need some more practice in this area . . . . One thing that will help is to pound out the loin to make it thinner and more consistent in thickness. However, this will not affect the taste.

About Wayne Yoshida

Wayne Yoshida is a technical writer and education advocate with sales management experience. Wayne currently works in the alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) industry and has worked for a wide variety of high technology companies, including aerospace and defense, photonics, lasers and opto-mechanics, two-way radio, telecommunications and a non-profit, educational organization. His personal passion for electronics and Amateur Radio opened many doors to some very interesting personal and professional experiences. Working as a ham radio consultant for the NASA Johnson Space Center during Space Shuttle mission STS-9 is his most memorable experience. Connect with him on LinkedIn and beBee, and for a look into his personal passions, follow his blog.

 

 

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