Tuscan Pork in Crispy Baguette
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth.
This delicious and incredibly easy pork dish is based on a recipe by Joanne Weir, who hails from my favourite city, San Francisco. I’ve been lucky enough to cook with Joanne a couple of times in my career.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
2 pork fillets, about 350–400 grams each
1 tablespoon olive oil
Herb rub
2 tablespoon each roughly chopped rosemary and sage leaves
½ teaspoon whole fennel seeds
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
zest 1 lemon
¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
½ teaspoon each sea salt and freshly ground pepper
To cook
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 large baguette
2 tablespoons basil pesto
3 tablespoons olive oil
foil
kitchen string
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Trim any silverskin off the pork fillets and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a sauté pan and quickly sear the pork on all sides. This should take a maximum of 4 minutes. Cool the pork for 10 minutes.
Herb rub: Place all the ingredients on a board and use a large knife to finely chop everything together.
To cook: Pat the seared pork fillets dry with kitchen towels. Brush all sides with the mustard and sprinkle or roll in the herb rub.
Cut the baguette in half lengthwise and pull out the soft crumbs from both halves.
Combine the pesto and oil and set 1 tablespoon aside. Brush the remaining mixture over the insides of the bread. Place the pork in the baguette, tucking the thinner end of each fillet under to make
an even thickness. Place the top on and trim the bread between the fillets.
Tie with kitchen string at 3 cm intervals. Wrap each piece in foil then place on a flat baking tray.
Roast for 20 minutes then remove from the oven and peel back the foil. Brush the outside of the baguette with the remaining pesto mixture and place the pork back in the oven to cook for 5 minutes until crisp and golden. Rest for 5 minutes then slice thickly to serve.
Cook’s note: Silverskin is the thin, shiny connective tissue on the outside of the meat that gets stringy and makes the meat curl up when it cooks.
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