19/12/2014

Festive Food #1 / Peppered Pork Loin with Chorizo & Sprouts

Christmas has officially begun in our household; neither of us have to go back to work until the new year. WOOHOO!

With that in mind it’s time to break out the festive recipes. I’ll be doing some baking next week, but first off is a delicious dinner featuring a Christmas classic ingredient that can divide a nation – SPROUTS!

Now I’ve always been a hater of sprouts myself. I don’t know why, maybe I had a bad experience when I was younger with an overcooked mushy offering. More than likely I just decided that I didn’t like sprouts and never got as far as actually eating one.

Fear not little sprouts, I’m older and wiser now. Well… I’m definitely older anyway.

Without further ado, I give to you:

Peppered Pork Loin with Chorizo & Sprouts

Sprouts did NOT look like this when I was growing up.

The verdict? Well I thoroughly enjoyed the pork loin, but most of all I couldn’t get enough of the potato, chorizo and sprout combo. I could see this working just as well with turkey or chicken and it would make a great side dish on the Christmas table. Just pop it in a serving bowl and let everyone help themselves.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

250g pork loin
1/2 tbsp black pepper (peppercorns if you have them)
2 cups new potatoes
3 tbsp chorizo
1 cup sprouts
1 clove garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Serves 2

Directions

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees
Peel the garlic and either finely dice it or put it through a garlic crusher
Prepare the sprouts by peeling off the outer layers, chopping off the base and slicing in half lengthways. Toss these in 2 tsps olive oil with the garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Spread these out on a baking tray and roast them on the middle shelf of the oven for 15 – 20 minutes, removing when soft enough to eat.
Whilst the sprouts are roasting, chop your new potatoes into quarters and boil them in water for around 8 minutes (until soft enough to eat), then drain them and keep to one side.
If you have peppercorns, crush these up a bit with a rolling pin or using a pestle and mortar (I don’t have one yet… are you listening Santa?)
Roll the pork in the peppercorns and a pinch of salt
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick pan on a medium-high heat. When the oil is really hot, carefully lay in the pork and cook it for 2 minutes on each side to brown it off.
Your sprouts should be just about ready, so take them out and put them in a bowl, then pop the pork onto the baking tray and place on the middle shelf of the oven for 10 minutes.
Once done, remove it from the oven to rest for a few minutes.
Fry the chorizo for 2 mins on a medium heat, then add in the sprouts and potatoes and toss it all together for a minute or two.

To Serve:

Spoon the potato mixture onto plates, slice the pork and lay it over the top.
For extra indulgence, spoon over some gravy (artistic droplets optional!).