Happy {almost} Valentine’s Day, folks! In a few more days, we’re going to be celebrating all sorts of love around my house…how about you?! I’ve got a great recipe for you that’s extra special & screams a little *fancy*…let me introduce you to my Tuscan Style Pork Roulade + Winter Field Salad!
Well…let me take a step back and get honest, first. We do not usually partake in all sorts of mushy-gushy Valentine’s Day traditions around here. We may buy a few cards and exchange some {really good} chocolate & love notes even with the kids, but we’re not the type to buy all.the.flowers and go hog-wild on a dinner out at a restaurant. However, if YOU are, that’s totally cool! Do your thing! We usually just cook a nice meal in and call it a date…which honestly, can be even more fun since we really like to cook together & as a family!
Why this recipe is so special…
This meal is particularly special because it looks really fancy. I mean, it’s a Roulade. You’re probably saying to yourself, what in the name of Peter, Paul & Mary is a Roulade? A roulade is just a fancy a fancy term for a dish of filled rolled meat or pastry and they can be savory or sweet. Remember those Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls as a kid? Yes. Those are a type of roulade. Meat can also be made into a roulade and stuffed with all types of goodness. In this particular case, we’re going to stuff a delicious pork roast with garlic, rosemary and drizzle it with a lemony-garlic sauce. Yaasssss!
This dish does take a little more time than my other recipes, but it’s Valentine’s Day so the expectations are a little higher and I tend to pull out all of my small appliances (and all of my spatulas, and wooden spoons, and…) for Valentine’s Day! Bahhhh!
My thoughts on HOW to start…
My advice to you is to create this Tuscan Style Pork Roulade + Winter Field Salad is:
#1) Do not be intimidated. You CAN do this & it will be delicious!
#2) Read the ENTIRE recipe, including ingredients & instructions from start to finish, FIRST. This is really important.
#3) Allow yourself enough time. There is prep work, refrigeration time & last, lots of rest time for the sweet little pork roast. Just pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy your time…
The Correct Culinary Equipment
Also, please make sure you have the right equipment to use with this recipe. You’ll need things like: a heavy duty skillet, a high speed blender or food processor, a meat thermometer, a large cutting board, fine mesh strainer.
More than anything, I want you to really enjoy this extra special Tuscan Style Pork Roulade + Winter Field Salad with your family. I love inspiring people to take back the kitchen–teach yourself a new culinary skill, buy a new ingredient at the grocery store & TRY something new! It can be really fun if you carve out some time to do it.
After this special meal, head back over the blog for more fun meal inspiration such as my version of Shepherd’s Pie or my classic Neopolitan-style pizza made right in your oven!
Until next time…Eat Well. Travel Often. Love Much.
xoxo
Tuscan Pork Roulade + Winter Field Salad
This gorgeous pork roast turns into a Tuscan-style Roulade when butterflied and smothered in a pancetta, garlic and rosemary mixture, then rolled & secured with twine and roasted to perfection. Do not skip the sauce at the end: the lemony garlic sauce takes this roulade to the next level!
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- kosher or sea salt + freshly ground black pepper
- 1 T. chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1-2.5 lb. boneless center cut pork loin roast, trimmed
- Salad:
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 3 oz. pancetta, chopped
- 6-8 cups torn salad greens (I like spring mix)
- small wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1-2 small Bosc pears, thinly sliced
- Large handful of dried cranberries (optional)
- Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 T. aged balsamic vinegar
- kosher or sea salt + freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Finely grate 1 tsp. zest from the lemon. Cut the lemon in half and reserve. Combine the lemon zest, oil, garlic and red pepper flakes in a large, heavy bottomed skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the rosemary and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, pushing on garlic and rosemary mixture to extract the flavored oil. Set oil aside and let garlic-rosemary mixture cool.
- Step 2 Process the pancetta in a high speed blender or food processor until a smooth paste forms, about 20-30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the canister or bowl as needed. Add the garlic-rosemary mixture and continue to process until the mixture is homogenous, about 20-30 seconds longer, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Step 3 Position the roast fat side up. Butterfly the roast to lay it out flat: Insert the knife 1/3 way up from the bottom of the roast along one long side and cut horizontally, stopping about 1/2 inch before edge. Open up the flap. Keeping the knife parallel to the cutting board, cut through the thicker portion of the roast, about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the roast, keeping the knife level with the first cut and stopping about 1/2 inch before the edge. Open up this flap. If uneven, cover the roast with plastic wrap and use a meat pounder (or rolling pin!) to even it out.
- Step 4 Sprinkle the flattened meat with a little kosher salt + pepper and rub into the meat to adhere. Spread the pancetta-garlic paste evenly over the inside of the roast, leaving about 1/4 inch border on all sides.
- Step 5 Starting from the short side, roll the roast and tie with twine at 1 inch intervals (dental floss also works in a pinch!)
- Step 6 Once rolled up and secured, spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and lay the roast, fat side up and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- Step 7 Combine all ingredients for the salad into a bowl & toss. Combine vinaigrette ingredients and whisk until combined. Refrigerate the salad & vinaigrette separately until ready to serve.
- Step 8 Heat oven to 275 F. Transfer the roast to the oven and cook until the meat registers about 135F with a digital meat thermometer. This will take about 1-2 hours depending on the size of roast you used.
- Step 9 Remove the roast from the oven and tent it with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes. Your carry-over cooking while tenting the meat will continue to raise the temperature to about 145-150F.
- Step 10 Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp. reserved oil in a skillet and add the reserved lemon halves, cut side down and cook until softened and the cut surfaces are browned, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer the lemon halves to a small plate to cool.
- Step 11 Pat roast dry with paper towels. Heat 2 T. reserved oil in a large skillet over high heat until just smoking. Brown the roast on 3 sides, about 4-6 minutes.
- Step 12 Transfer the roast to the carving board and tent for 10 minutes, discard twine.
- Step 13 Once the lemon halves are cool enough to handle, squeeze into a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Press on solids to extract all pulp
- Step 14 discard solids. Which 2 T. strained lemon juice into a bowl with remaining reserved oil. Slice roast 1/2 inch thick and serve alongside the Winter Field Salad, passing lemon vinaigrette to pour on top of the roast separately.
Oh my gosh, this looks divine! What a great meal for a special occasion. I’d make this at Christmas too.
This would make a lovely Christmas meal, such a great idea!
Yes! It has been the star of my Christmas celebrations a time or two!
this looks so delcious and it’s good timing for me. My wife has recently started a new job and I am doing more of the cooking . I wanted to make something specialf for Valentine’s Day. This looks perfect.
That’s fantastic! Enjoy cooking more frequently; it can be so much fun!
That looks so yummy!
Thank you so much for the compliment; enjoy!
This sounds soooo good! I haven’t had a roulade in about a year. I need to give this one a try!
Roulades are so delicious & they look so fancy! Super fun; enjoy!
You had me at pork! Love this recipe and I could smell it while I was readying your recipe. Thanks! Pinned this recipe and started following you!
That’s great; thank you so much! I think we’re soul-sisters…pork is my love language!
This salad looks so yummy! I’m a sucker for salads, meat on the other hand …not so much. But my family would like it.
This side salad is lovely and could be the main event or paired with any protein. It has great “winter” flavors!
This is so pretty, and sounds delicious! We don’t go overboard on Valentine’s Day either, but a fun new recipe is a great idea!
I do love a really great special occasion recipe to pull out of my repertoire that I know everyone loves!
It does look delicious but I admit that I am intimidated..can I really do it?
YES! You can, Cathy! If you follow the recipe step by step, I don’t think it’s really that hard. I did practice it a few times before completely writing the recipe just so I could articulate it well. Good luck & HAVE FUN (the most important thing!)
Oh my gosh, that looks amazing! And intimidating. The name of the game for me in the kitchen is fast and easy, haha! I sometimes enjoy baking but really, I prefer to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. Especially because my kids are such picky eaters so when I’m adventurous in my cooking, no one really eats it.
It’s incredibly delicious! I do understand how it could be intimidating, too, though. I will tell you it’s really not difficult, it just looks fancy. I use to be intimidated in the kitchen, but found that the more I experimented and allowed it to be “my time” it became quite a passion for me.
Wow! This recipe sounds wonderful. Sounds like a great idea to stay home and try a new recipe for V-Day!
Thank you; enjoy your Valentine’s Day!!
This recipe looks amazing. Your pictures are beautiful as well. I really love that you include “Don’t be Intimidated” in your notes. Amazing recipes always look intimidating until you do it. I can’t wait to try this !
Thank you so much for the compliment! I want people to feel compelled to take back the kitchen. Intimidation and fear are the number one reasons we “don’t cook.” It doesn’t have to be hard if you follow the recipe step by step; I feel it’s one that you can’t really mess up if followed correctly.
Love your recipe layout!!
It looks like an intense recipe that’s a little above my level, but you make it seem doable!
Great post!
Thank you so much for the compliment. I’ll admit, it is one of my more “involved” recipes, but it is doable if you follow it step by step. Having a glass of wine (or beer) while you’re doing it does not hurt. 😉
This recipe came about at the perfect time! I had just been googling ‘best pork recipes’ yesterday. My husband is a huge pork fan and I have to admit, I am not, but due to his whining for more pig in his life (he’s the only one I have needed thus far in mine) I wanted to surprise him for Valentines Day. Looking forward to trying this out as well as stealing some other enticing recipes off your site. Beautiful. Thank you.
Carly! I’m so happy you found the site & this recipe! Your husband will LOVE it. The flavors are unreal and it may even turn you into a pork-lover 😉 I have to admit, pork is my love language-HA!!!
This is awesome! I love your whole blog and this post! Thank you!
Taylor!! Thank you for the super kind words. Helps to keep me motivated!!
Tara,
A great recipe and a BEAUTIFUL website! Which theme are you using, and may I ask where you found it?
I love following your posts!! You’re an inspiration!
Awww, thank you, Kimberly! You’re so kind! I’m glad I can serve as an inspiration to you. This has been a long and slow journey, but hoping it continues to ramp up!! I am using the Kale Pro Theme from Lyra. I think I found it just searching through themes from the link that Heather & Pete gave us in the course. (maybe themeforest?…don’t quote me on it, though!) I fell in love with it because it had so many options for the recipe card and the layout was neat & clean, too.
This looks and sounds so delish! It’s def a great contender to be starring at the dinner table. Thanks so much for sharing.
This roulade is definitely a show-stopper! Enjoy!
This looks and sounds delicious.
Thank you; enjoy!
This meal sounds wonderful! I love lemon and garlic, so this sounds like something I definitely would enjoy. The salad sounds delicious too.
It’s an absolutely wonderful meal with all the perfect flavor notes. The salad would be great as a side dish to just about any protein! Enjoy!
Wow, I love how you have put your page together. The
roast looks amazing. I love the pics with each of your categories. However did you do that?
Dorian
nevertoooldortoolate.com
Thank you for the kind compliment! The pictures with each category have to do with how my theme is laid out. It’s the Kale Pro theme by Lyra.