It has been a while since I published this, and it got resurrected from my files due to a reader request. “We were at a friend’s home for dinner and she made the most delicious stuffed pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon. My friend told me it’s a Rita recipe and it’s not difficult. Will you share?”  Well, sure. It looks like it’s hard to make, but it isn’t.

I first enjoyed it at friend, Carolyn Grieme’s home a while back. Here it is updated a bit. 

Peppered bacon wrapped and stuffed pork tenderloin

Make bacon easier to wrap around the pork, by letting it sit out a few minutes. 

If all you have is regular bacon, a few grinds of coarse pepper will do it. 

The mushrooms and onions should be in small pieces so they don’t fall out during roasting.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter or olive oil

3/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced and chopped a bit if necessary

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted (toast before chopping)

Two pork tenderloins, trimmed 

Salt and pepper to taste 

8 slices thick peppered bacon or regular thick bacon

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, dark or light

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450.

Melt butter and add mushrooms, onions and sauté until tender. Stir in nuts and set aside.

Butterfly pork by cutting a slit into the middle horizontally about 2/3 of the way through. 

It will open like a book. Then pound it out to even thickness and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Spread mushroom mixture evenly, leaving a bit of a border so filling doesn’t ooze out  much. 

Roll up as snug as you can.

Now wrap stuffed pork.

Lay bacon out on cutting board, spaced evenly to fit length of pork. 

Place pork on top, seam side down. Bring bacon up and around, tucking ends underneath. 

Put pork on sprayed baking pan with sides.

Rub evenly with brown sugar and bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. 

Reduce temperature to 400 and bake about 15 minutes, or until meat thermometer registers 140-145 or so. Don’t over bake or meat will be dry.
Let rest, tented with foil, about 10 minutes or so, then cut into nice slices.

Toast pecans: Toast in single layer in 350 degree oven just until they smell fragrant, about 6 minutes or so.

Tip: Get pork ready for oven ahead of time

If you like, you can get the pork ready to this stage in the morning, but let sit out about 30 minutes prior to baking. (If you forget, that’s OK – just remember that it will take longer to bake).