Roasted Pork Loin with Gingerbread Stuffing

Here's the recipe I mentioned in my gingerbread post. As you can tell from the title, the gingerbread is going to be used as the stuffing for the pork loin.

I found the recipe online here.

Ingredients:

5 pound bone-in pork loin, hinged and butterflied (have your butcher do this for you)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon rubbed sage1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil1 medium onion, finely chopped1 apple, peeled and coarsely chopped3 cloves garlic, minced2 1/2 cups crumbled Orange Gingerbread1 large egg

Directions:

Ok, before I even start, I'm not going to even pretend I have the money for a bone-in pork loin or a butcher to hinge and butterfly for me. So, instead I bought a regular old pork loin and then after pretending I knew what "butterflied" meant, I cut it open like this:

Essentially, I cut it so that I can unfold it and roll it back up like a swiss cake roll. 

1. Open the pork like a book. Season the pork with 1 tsp of the salt, and the sage, rosemary, and pepper, rubbing it all over, on the inside and the outside. 

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

3. In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, apple, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add the gingerbread, tossing to combine. Add the egg and remaining 1/2 tsp salt and mix again.

4. Pack the stuffing into the open pork. Roll the pork up toward the bone side, enclosing the stuffing. Tie the roast in several spots to keep it closed. Place in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and roast for 30 to 35 minutes longer or until an instant-read thermometer registers 145 degrees. (The temperature will rise as the pork sits.) Tent with foil and let stand for ten minutes before slicing. 

Variation: Make this with cornbread instead of the gingerbread stuffing. You'll need 2 1/2 cups crumbled. 

This was really good. The sweetness of the gingerbread worked with the juiciness of the pork. Plus, it was far easier to make than I had thought it would be given all the butterflying and hinging the recipe said would need to be done. (Granted, the butcher would do it for you, it still sounds like a heavy duty job.)

Also, I have a picture of it on a plate from the side view, but the plate is messy and my shadow is looming over it. Nobody wants to see it. But imagine a pork swiss cake roll with a gingerbread swirl, and you've got the point.