Apple & Onion Stuffed Pork Roast with Apple Butter Glaze

Pork + apples = fall to me. I understand the apple piece, but I don’t know why I feel that way about pork.  Maybe because beef is dark and makes me think of winter, and grilled chicken is light and makes me thing of summer. Pork is in between.  Now it makes perfect sense.

Anyway, this recipe got hijacked by my husband. I wanted to make a slow roasted pork loin with apple butter glaze, and he wanted a stuffed pork with apples and onions.  Because we’re married now and it turns out you need to compromise, we did both. We stuffed a pork loin with apples and onions, and glazed it with apple butter.  YUM.  It really was quite pleasing to the palate and the eye. I would serve this at a dinner party, as long as John’s not in charge of buying the apples. My very specific request for HONEYCRISP was denied and replaced with gross green Granny Smith.  The flavor came out just the same, but red looks so much prettier with pork.

Recipe

Pork

·       2-3 lb boneless pork loin roast

·       1 tablespoon salt

·       1 tablespoon brown sugar

·       ½ teaspoon pepper

·       2 cups apple juice

Stuffing

·       1 tablespoon olive oil

·       2 medium onions, diced

·       3 apples, diced

·       ½ cup apple juice

·       ~1 cup cubed bread

Glaze

·       1 cup apple butter

·       ½ cup brown sugar

·       1/4 teaspoon cinnamon + pinch of ground cloves

Start by butterflying or rolling out your pork.  I can’t really explain how to do this, so you might want to find a video on youtube. That’s what I did. But basically I cut a slit lengthwise into the pork roast about one inch from the bottom, then continued to cut and roll out the pork until it was flat.  Then mix the spice seasoning of salt, brown sugar, and pepper and sprinkle on one side of the pork (that will become the inside of your roll).  Preheat the oven to 325.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing.  Cook the onions in a tablespoons of olive oil, and add the apples a couple minutes in.  Pour in the apple juice and continue to cook for 5-10 more minutes. Add the bread cubes, and stir to coat.  Spoon stuffing onto the flattened pork (you won’t be able to use it all, but you’ll want to serve it on the side – it’s delicious!).  Then, slowly roll up the pork and secure with kitchen twine.  Sprinkle more of the seasoning mixture on top. 

To make the glaze, heat the apple butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a small saucepan until smooth.

Spray a small baking dish with Pam. Place the pork roll in the dish, then pour 2 cups apple juice over and around.  Glaze the pork with the apple butter.  Cover with foil, and bake for 45 min to one hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 145 (time will vary depending on the thickness of your roast).  

 Serve with leftover apple butter glaze and stuffing!