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Prep time
13 hours
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Cook time
1 hour 30 minutes
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Serves
6 to 8
Author Notes
A simple and delicious roast—great for dinner and next-day sandwiches. —Cara Nicoletti
Test Kitchen Notes
This is one of the easiest recipes on Food52—yet it’s also one of the most special. When you want to cook a stellar roast pork loin for a special occasion (think: holiday dinners, date night at home, family gatherings, etc.), this recipe should be front and center.
Pick up a three-pound boneless pork loin and ask the butcher to trim all but about ¼ inch of fat; while you could certainly do this yourself, it saves a little bit of time in the kitchen. At home, the pork gets a dry rub of garlic, olive oil, red and black pepper, fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme; it sits in the fridge overnight absorbing all of those delicious flavors before roasting in the oven for an hour or two. As it roasts, prep the sides (we’ve got several delicious suggestions below!). Use a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the cut to check the internal temperature. Pull the pork loin when the thermometer readers 145℉ for a medium-rare, succulent roast with an earthy, herby crust that looks beautiful to boot.
Though that crust will elevate its look and flavor, a gorgeous pork centerpiece is nothing without delicious sides. Do you hear that? That’s the sound of the roast begging to be served with Emma Laperruque’s Grandma Potatoes or this Stovetop Green Bean Casserole, Veganized. A basket of buttery dinner rolls doesn’t hurt either. As for beverages, choose a light- to medium-bodied red wine, such as Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, or Cabernet Franc. —Food52
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Ingredients
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5
garlic cloves
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1/4 cup
extra-virgin olive oil
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1/4 cup
kosher salt
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1 tablespoon
crushed red pepper
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1 tablespoon
coarse black pepper
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4 sprigs
rosemary, picked and finely chopped
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4 sprigs
thyme, picked and finely chopped
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3 pounds
boneless pork loin, fat trimmed to 1/4-1/2 inch
Directions
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Pass your garlic cloves through a garlic press into a mortar and pestle. Add olive oil, salt, red pepper, black pepper, rosemary, and thyme, and grind them all up in the mortar and pestle until they form a paste. Rub the pork loin all over with the seasoning paste, place it in a roasting pan lined with foil and covered in plastic wrap, and allow it to sit in the fridge overnight.
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The next day, remove the roast from the fridge, take off the plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes.
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Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425°F. Roast the pork loin, fat side-up, for 20 minutes.
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After 20 minutes, lower the heat to 225°F and allow the pork to cook until the center reaches 135° F about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Cara Nicoletti is a butcher and writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Cara started working in restaurants when she moved to New York in 2004, and was a baker and pastry chef for several years before following in her grandfather and great-grandfathers' footsteps and becoming a butcher. She is the writer behind the literary recipe blog, Yummy-Books.com, and author of Voracious, which will be published by Little, Brown in 2015. She is currently a whole-animal butcher and sausage-making teacher at The Meat Hook in Williamsburg.
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