Roast Pork Tenderloin with Carrot Romesco

Bon Appétit (April 2014)

Another day, another carrot recipe from the April issue of Bon Appétit ... but with a very different result. 

Let's back up. See, ever since we got the first hint of spring sunshine, we've been ravenous for salads. Our kingdom for some good arugula! But with our unusually long winter, we haven't quite gotten the garden up and running, and our Sundays have been a bit lazier than usual, so we haven't been venturing down to the farmers market. 

In the interim, we've been going to town on carrots. Lots of carrots. Roasted. Raw. Pickled. Mashed. Stir-fried. You name it, we're eating them.

As expected, the food magazines have ample carrots this month, in all forms. We initially dismissed this recipe from Bon Appétit. Really, do we need to do another pork loin on this blog? We've done at least eight already (if our recipe index is to be trusted). 

 

But the carrot romesco sold us. We love the idea of taking a classic dish or sauce -- in this case, a romesco, which is traditionally made with red peppers -- and shaking things up by swapping in a different ingredient. 

And lord knows we do love a pork tenderloin.

So why didn't we love this dish?

We did make one big substitution in the romesco -- we didn't have pine nuts, so we used walnuts instead. No doubt that yielded a different final product. Who knows -- Maybe we would have loved the pine nut version. But we also don't think our romesco ended up all that different from the recipe version.

As it was, we were very mixed on the outcome here. Clay actually really liked the carrot romesco, and he enjoyed it with the pork. But Zach found the romesco just okay, and he actively disliked it paired with the meat.

It's weird. This is one of those recipes that, on paper, should have been right up our alley.  

Was our problem the walnut-pine-nut switcheroo? Should we try this again with pine nuts? We're still not convinced that would make us love this dish...

Any thoughts?

Meanwhile, we'll keep trying to satisfy our cravings for spring.

 

 

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Carrot Romesco
Bon Appétit (April 2014), recipe by Alison Roman
Subscribe to Bon Appétit
Nutritional information available at BonAppetit.com

(This photo: Christina Holmes/Bon Appétit)

Total time: 1 hour | Active: 45 mins
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup pine nuts
1½ pound small carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise if larger
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large pork tenderloin (about 1½ lb.)
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1 tsp Aleppo pepper or ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
2 cups spicy greens (such as watercress or baby mustard)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes; let cool.

Increase temperature to 450°. Toss carrots with 1 Tbsp. oil on another rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and black pepper. Roast, tossing occasionally, until softened and browned, 15–20 minutes; let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork with salt and black pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 10–15 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and roast pork until a thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 145°, 8–10 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Pulse pine nuts, garlic, and remaining 3 Tbsp. oil in a food processor to a coarse paste. Add Aleppo pepper, one-fourth of carrots, 1 Tbsp. vinegar, and 1 Tbsp. water. Process, adding more water as needed, to a coarse purée; season romesco with salt, black pepper, and more vinegar, if desired.

Toss greens with remaining carrots and remaining 1 Tbsp. vinegar in a large bowl; season with salt and black pepper. Serve pork with romesco and salad.