We’ve spent the past three days recovering from our annual Harry Potter Party…talk about a messy house full of fake cobwebs, mini pumpkins and too many treats.
Sometimes, after a big holiday full of pumpkin cake bars, Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavored Beans and chocolate frogs, you just need REAL food. Like meat. We’re talking a real-food meal of meat and potatoes…
Our version of “meat and potatoes” happens to be a little different than the typical American’s. Meat and potatoes for my mom and I means something like this Rosemary Pork with Balsamic Pears.
And these Cheesy Layered Sweet Potatoes……
Meat and Potatoes at its finest.
This time of the year is one of my favorites, for a few reasons really.
1. The anticipation of the upcoming holidays is literally palpable. (Ten points for my use of that very sophisticated-sounding word…)
2. Cozy food. You know what I’m talking about…hot cocoa and grilled cheese, chicken pot pie, black bean soup (with homemade rolls of course…) And you can now add this Rosemary Pork with Balsamic Pears to your list of cozy foods, because it definitely qualifies.
3. The fact that snow is on its way, which means Saturdays spent skiing the slopes followed by Christmas movies by the fire. Eeeek I’m getting the feel-goods thinking about all this holiday goodness that’s just around the corner.
So while you’re pulling out your holiday decor and making a list of cozy foods to make for the fam, keep this pork in mind. Because pork + pears = nom nom nom.
Pork’s gone. (At least that’s what happened when we served this to the men in our house…)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. pork loin
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary
- 1 1/2 tsp. fresh sage
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pear
- 1 small shallot
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Generously salt and pepper the pork loin.
- Chop fresh herbs and rub into pork.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add pork and sear until all sides are golden brown and crispy.
- Transfer to a baking pan (keep skillet with drippings!) and cook until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees, (about 20 minutes but could vary depending on your oven, so be sure to check temp.)
- While the meat is cooking, make the balsamic sauce.
- Chop the shallot and set aside.
- Heat the skillet with drippings until bubbling. Turn down the heat, add the shallots and cook until soft.
- Add the balsamic vinegar and heat until thickened.
- Thinly slice the pears and add to the skillet. Spoon the balsamic vinegar over the pears.
- Once pears are slightly soft, turn off the heat so they don't get too mushy.
- Serve the balsamic pears over the rosemary pork.
Notes
*We highly recommend using FRESH herbs. If unavailable, you can substitute with dried herbs, however decrease the amounts to 1 tsp. dried thyme, 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary and 1/2 tsp. dried sage.
4 Comments
My husband would love this! I’ll have to show him the recipe.
Pork tenderloin with pears is a great delicious meal. Pair it with anything.
Just reading the name of this recipe got me interested in making in. I am going to pin it, sounds great.
i love the holidays, i plan on taking it all in this year from hot toddy’s to roasting chestnuts at home haha