Pork dork

Just finishing everything up before plating

Never again can I eat a plain pork chop served with green beans like I grew up with (Sorry, mom!) Pork tenderloin has opened up so many new ideas for me and they’ll all delicious! I went to the store to get a plain pork tenderloin for my gnocchi dish yesterday, but came out with a provolone and spinach stuffed pork loin. I usually don’t purchase meat that is pre-seasoned or stuffed because, let’s face it, everything is better homemade. However, I just couldn’t pass up the look of these cute little loins. Not to mention the price, which was a fraction of what it would have cost me to buy a whole tenderloin, spinach, and provolone                                                                                separately. So off I went, against my                                                                                      standards, to cook a dinner that tastes 100%                                                                          homemade.

Looks a bit of a mess, but sooo tasty!

I seasoned everything with salt and pepper as I went. Also, all was cooked in my cast iron pan, except for the gnocchi, which was boiled then brown in a pan (Try it!) After peeling and dicing a sweet potato, I browned it along with chopping onion and sundried tomato. FYI, my new favorite thing to do with sundried tomatoes is to crisp them up in a hot pan! I then set the browned veggies aside to cook the rainbow chard with chopped garlic in a hot pan drizzled with olive oil. Then I seared the pork and cooked it until the inside is slightly pink. I never use measurement or timers, so regretfully, I can’t tell you these things. Lastly, I used the fat from the pork to make a butter cream sauce. I used my fingers to take leaves of some sage and throw it in the sauce. I like to use my fingers when cooking with                                                                     herbs because it’s nice to smell them (Like I've                                                                       just picked them from a garden!)

I plated the gnocchi first, then the sauce on top, then the potato mixture, then the chard, then the pork, then sprinkled Parmesan on top. The purple you see is some chopped radicchio, but I don’t recommend it. It’s too bitter and overpowers the dish (I was trying to get rid of leftovers, oops!) We drank a light Malbec with the meal and discussed our day. On to dessert!