Pork Roulade with Cranberry, Pear & Spinach
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Pork Roulade sounds super fancy but it’s actually super easy to make! Grab a pork tenderloin and let’s get to stuffing it! This is the perfect dinner to impress any friends and family.
This Pork Tenderloin Roulade recipe is stuffed with pears, red onion, spinach, cinnamon, cranberry sauce and goat cheese – it’s like a flavor wonderland! I can’t even tell you how delicious the filling is!!! Yes I can because I might have eaten a few spoonfuls of it by itself!
What is a Roulade?
Roulade is any food served in a roll – it’s usually a flat piece of meat or cake – schmeared with something delicious – rolled and served.
In this instance, I’m making a Pork Roulade recipe (with a couple of minor tweaks) from my friend Chef Kayla. Kayla is the Chef at Arnold’s in Cincinnati and she made this recipe originally on her Facebook channel. And if she looks familiar – it’s because she’s been on Food Network a few times!
How do you make a Pork Roulade?
- First – you’ll prepare the filling. For this dish, I sauteed onion and pear (yes – pear – trust me on this!) over medium. Once softened, add in orange zest and cinnamon.
- Deglaze the pan with orange juice then add in spinach until wilted. Your filling is ready!
- Preheat oven and prep your tenderloin! Cut pieces of butchers twine now before your hands get mucked up.
- Next, butterfly pork tenderloin by slicing 1/3 of top of tenderloin almost through (but don’t slice it off!) and open up like a book. Then on the thicker side, slice 1/3 of the way down again – all along the tenderloin but not all the way through and open like a book the other way (see photo above – or watch the video to see Kayla at the 13:00 mark)
- Once tenderloin is open and flat – spread pear mixture across meat. Then layer cranberry sauce on top and goat cheese on top of that.
- Now – it’s time to roulade the roulade! Start at one end and roll and tuck the loin with all the stuffing. (Watch Kayla at 23:00 min mark) If any of the stuffing falls out when rolled – just stuff it into the ends.
- Final step of prep is tying the roulade – more on that below.
- To cook – you’ll sear the outside of the roulade in a skillet on all sides. Then bake for 25-30 minutes until pork temps to 140-145.
How to tie a Pork Roulade
Cut off four pieces of butcher twine at least 12″ in length. You can see Kayla master this around the 24:00 mark of the video. Once your roulade is rolled, slide one piece of pre-cut twine under the end of the loin and tie. Then slide a piece under the other end and tie. This will secure the ends. Now you can lift the roulade and slide the other two pieces under and wrap around and tie.
When is pork done?
I’ve done a whole post on busting the myths about pork – it’s really my favorite protein to eat. The #1 thing you need to know is that the safe internal pork cooking temperature for fresh cuts is 145° F with a blush of pink. (Ground pork should cook to 160). If you cook pork to this temp – you’ll never have a dry piece of meat again! It’s perfection!!!!
Using an instant read thermometer guarantees you always get it right – and they’re cheap! Once you have reached the desired internal temperature, remove from heat and let it rest for three minutes.
What do you serve with Pork Roulade?
The nice thing about the roulade is you have your vegetables and protein covered – so you just might want to have a carb on the side — or DESSERT! Here are a few of my favorites:
Pork Roulade with Spinach, Cranberry & Goat Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb pork tenderloin
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 red onion diced
- 1 pear peeled & diced
- 1 orange
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
- 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
- in skillet over medium, heat olive oil
- add onion and pear and saute until onions are soft – about 2-3 min
- zest orange into the skillet and add cinnamon. saute 1 min more
- deglaze the pan by juicing the orange into the skillet and stir
- add spinach and stir until wilted – remove skillet from heat
- preheat oven to 350 and prepare baking dish for tenderloin by spraying lightly (or you can use a cast iron skillet and go from stove top to oven)
- cut 4 lengths of butchers twine approximately 12 inches each
- butterfly pork tenderloin by slicing 1/3 of top of tenderloin ALMOST all the way through and open up like a book. on the thicker side, slice 1/3 of the way down again – all along the tenderloin – but NOT all the way through and open like a book the other way (see photo above)
- once tenderloin is open and flat – spread pear mixture on loin leaving at least an inch around the edge
- spoon cranberry sauce over top of pear mixture
- sprinkle goat cheese over cranberry sauce
- start at one end and roll and tuck the loin with all the stuffing
- any of the stuffing that falls out when rolled – tuck into the ends of the roll
- slide one piece of twine under the end of the loin and tie – continue doing the other end and then do the two strings in the middle
- heat skillet on medium high and add a tablespoon of olive oil
- when skillet is hot, add loin and sear on all sides – this will take approx 5 min
- place pork roulade (rolled pork) into baking dish and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes
- temp check pork to 140-145 degrees and remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes
- slice pork into 1” thick slices
Notes
- you can use the one cast iron skillet for everything if you’d like – you might want to wipe it out after removing the filling
- you can swap cranberry sauce for fresh cranberries. If you do so – saute with the onion for at least 10 minutes – then add in pear for just 1-2 min
- if the pork tenderloin is still thick and/or uneven – feel free to pound lightly with meat tenderizer smooth side
- feel free to use a marinated pork tenderloin if you like
- you can also use a full pork LOIN vs. tenderloin – it will just take longer to reach 140 degrees
