Herb and garlic pork tenderloin with broccolini

An easy, flavour-packed meal!

Although I love barbequing pork tenderloin, I am a bit more of a ‘fair weather griller’, so as winter keeps us in its icy grip I decided to come up with an indoor cooking method that would yield similarly flavourful results. This dish was absolutely delicious and while it might seem like an extra step to finish cooking the pork in foil rather than just using an oven-safe skillet for the entire cooking process, there’s a good reason: it keeps the garlic from burning and becoming bitter. If you want a little more substance to this meal, the pork slices would be great fanned out on top of mashed white or sweet potatoes.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (50 g ) minced fresh garlic (about 6 cloves)
• 1 teaspoon (1 g) each dried basil, oregano and thyme
• 2 tablespoons (7.5 g) minced fresh parsley, divided
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons (12 g) coarse sea salt
• 2 teaspoons (4.5 g) freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 – 2 lbs (680 – 900 g) pork tenderloin
• 3 tablespoons (42 g) butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 1 large bunch broccolini (about 10 oz/285 g)
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) water
• Juice of half a fresh lemon, to finish
• Salt and pepper, to finish

Method

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• In a small bowl, combine garlic, basil, oregano, thyme and half the parsley; set aside.
• Generously season meat with salt and pepper.
• In a heavy-duty skillet, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add pork tenderloin to pan and sear about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.
• Remove pork from pan and place on a sheet of aluminum foil. Do not wash the skillet you used to sear the pork.
• Coat the meat with the prepared herb mixture. Place the pieces of butter on top of the pork then fold up and seal the edges of the foil.
• Put the foil packet on a baking tray and place in preheated oven. Roast for 20 – 25 minutes, until pork reaches an internal temperature of 145F (measured at the thickest part of the meat).
• Remove baking tray from oven and transfer pork tenderloin to a clean plate. Carefully pour the cooking juices that have accumulated inside the foil packet to a small jug or measuring cup and keep warm. Tent meat with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.
• While meat roasts, trim about a half inch (1.25 cm) off the ends of the broccolini stems. Wash and halve any thick pieces lengthwise, so the broccolini stems are close to uniform in thickness.
• While meat is resting, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat, in the same skillet used previously. Add the broccolini and stir fry for 3 minutes, turning often. Add the water and cover the pot to let the broccolini steam for 2 minutes. Test the stems with the tip of a sharp knife – they should be tender-crisp when done. Remove from heat and sprinkle with lemon juice plus salt and pepper.
• Slice the pork into thin medallions and serve with cooking juices drizzled over top plus a sprinkle of fresh parsley, with broccolini.

Serves 4.