Pork Roast with Sausage, Fruit, and Nut Stuffing
With this sausage-stuffed pork loin rib roast, José Andrés gives pork and fruit some distinctly Catalan flavor. The stuffing, which cooks inside the roast, includes pine nuts, brandy-soaked dried fruit, and juicy butifarra sausage.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup walnut halves
- 1 cup brandy
- 12 dried apricots
- 12 pitted prunes
- 1 teaspoon finely grated clementine zest
- 1 pound butifarra or sweet Italian sausage, meat removed from the casings
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Two 6-rib pork loin roasts (8 1/2 pounds total)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced rosemary
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
Instructions
- 1Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the pine nuts and walnuts in a pie plate and bake for about 3 minutes, until lightly toasted. Coarsely chop the walnuts.
- 2In a small saucepan, bring the brandy to a simmer. Add the apricots, cover, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the prunes and clementine zest. Remove from the heat and let stand for 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the fruit to a work surface. Simmer the brandy over moderately high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Cut the apricots and prunes into quarters.
- 3In a medium nonstick skillet, cook the sausage over moderate heat, breaking it up with a spoon, until almost no pink remains, about 5 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a food processor and process until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.
- 4Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the skillet. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add to the sausage in the bowl, along with the nuts, apricots, prunes, and the reduced brandy, and season with salt and pepper.
- 5Carve a 3 1/2-inch deep pocket along the length of each roast, sliding the knife between the bones and the meat starting and stopping 1 inch from the end. Fill the pockets with the stuffing. Put the roasts on a large rimmed baking sheet, rib bones up. Rub the roasts with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle the roasts with the thyme and rosemary and season with salt and pepper.
- 6Roast the meat for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 140°F. Transfer the roasts to a carving board and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 7Tilt the baking sheet and pour off most of the fat. Put the baking sheet over moderate heat. Sprinkle the flour over the sheet and stir in 1/2 cup of the chicken stock, scraping up the browned bits. Transfer to a medium saucepan and whisk in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of stock. Simmer over low heat, whisking often, until the gravy is thickened and no floury taste remains, about 5 minutes. Pour into a gravy boat.
- 8Using a carving knife, carve the roasts into chops. Transfer the chops to plates and pass the gravy at the table.