Oxaca-Chorizo Pork Loin w/ Bacon Hug
Ingredients:
Pork Loin that makes you happy to look at
Bacon Slices (enough to cover length of loin)
3 Raw Chorizo Sausages, casings removed, chopped
12 ounces Queso Oaxaca (use Mozzarella as a backup)
1 medium Sweet Onion, chopped
1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme Leaves OR Dried Thyme
2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper to your liking
String or Twine
Directions:
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add chorizo. Break chunks apart with a wooden spoon. Add onion, garlic and thyme- cook about 10 minute and remove from heat. Drain the chorizo fat from the mixture and set aside while you prepare the pork.
Place the pork on a cutting board so the smallest end is facing you. Holding a long, slender, sharp knife parallel to the cutting board, cut the tenderloin horizontally in half, starting on one long side and cutting almost all the way through to the opposite side, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge. Open the piece of meat as you would a book.
From the middle, slice into the thicker part of the pork (which you just created by making the first slice) horizontally out towards the edge of the pork, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge. Fold out this flap. Repeat with the other side.
Place the pork between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it gently with the side of a heavy cleaver or with a rolling pin to make a rectangle uniformly about 1/2 inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Spread the chorizo over one side of the flattened pork, leaving 1 inch uncovered at the top, long edge. Starting with the long edge (that has the filling).
Break apart the queso Oaxaca over that and roll the pork back up, encasing the stuffing with the meat. Leave seam edge down. You can tie up the edges with twine at this point to make it easier to wrap with the bacon and not have it fall apart.
Cut 10 long pieces of cooking twine (the should be long enough to go around the roast with 4-5 inches to spare. Lay a piece of twine vertically on the work surface, then center a piece of bacon on the twine. Repeat with the rest of the twine and strips of bacon – they should be side by side and form a solid sheet of bacon.
Place the stuffed pork, seam side up, lengthwise in the middle of the bacon (you want the ends of the bacon to cover the seam). Wrap the stuffed tenderloin evenly with the slices of bacon, securing them with cooking twine. you can do a few wraps of twine around the roast across the long ends, to secure it and keep the shape.
Heat oven to 475 degrees F.
Place the bacon-wrapped roast on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Place on a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and roast for 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to 375 degrees. Cook until the pork registers 160 degrees on a meat thermometer placed about 2 inches into the center of the roast and the bacon is crispy, about 2 hours. Transfer roast to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil and let stand 20 minutes. Remove twine and carve into slices.