ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH A BALSAMIC FIG AND SHALLOT PAN SAUCE - A PERFECT THIRTY MINUTE MEAL
This is one of those recipes that I just keep going back to. The fig-balsamic combination is nothing new, but that’s because these two flavors compliment each other so beautifully. This is a perfect weeknight meal - pork tenderloin cooks incredibly quickly, but is also fancy enough to serve to company (sigh…remember company?) Roast some potatoes and broccoli on a sheet pan while you’re doing the rest of the work, and you have a complete meal in just about 30 minutes.
Balsamic Fig Pork Tenderloin
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2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
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1 ½ pound pork tenderloin
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1 shallot, diced
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1 sprig fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
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2 tablespoons fig jam
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3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
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½ cup chicken broth
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1 tablespoon butter
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salt and pepper
Balsamic Fig Sauce with shallots and rosemary.
To Make:
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Preheat oven to 425
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Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium high heat, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. When oil is shimmering, add the pork and sear, turning every minute or two to brown all 4 sides. This should take about 4-8 minutes total. Transfer the skillet to the oven, and roast until cooked through, about 12-14 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 140 degrees.* If you don’t have an oven safe skillet, you can transfer the pork to a foil lined baking sheet once browned, and cook the pork on that - just make sure you don’t wash the skillet yet.
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Once the pork is done, remove from the skillet, and let rest while you make the sauce.
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Heat the 2nd tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet used to cook pork, and add the shallot and rosemary. Cook, stirring, until the shallot is softened - about 2-3 minutes. Add the jam, vinegar and chicken broth, and stir to combine. Let the sauce simmer 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced, then add the butter, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Slice pork thinly crosswise, and drizzle the sauce over pork.
*Just a note about pork cooking times and temperatures. If you cook your pork to 140 and then let it rest for 5-10 minutes, it will still be slightly pink in the middle. That is fine. I don’t know about you, but I grew up in the 90’s when we were all told that eating pork that wasn’t fully well done was basically a death sentence, and as a result we all ate terrible dried out pork for our entire childhoods; and there is almost nothing worse than well done pork.
Looks delicious. I agree on well done pork- like eating a shoe.