Mushroom & Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

• Bacon: I recommend cooking the bacon to crispy perfection for the best results. You can also use pancetta if you’re feeling extra fancy!
• Onion: I used a small yellow onion, finely diced, for this pork tenderloin recipe. You can also use a white onion or a shallot as delicious substitutes.
• Fresh garlic: I recommend finely chopping the fresh garlic or using a garlic press to get a crushed consistency for full flavor. 
• Fresh Mushrooms: Mushrooms are a must, in my opinion. They give a delicious umami flavor and are so soft and juicy wrapped in the pork tenderloin.
• Fresh parsley: A delicious herb to add to the onion, garlic, and mushroom mixture. I recommend fresh over dried. You can add other fresh herbs too, like fresh thyme or rosemary,
• Fresh spinach: Fresh spinach is a delicious addition to the mixture pork filling, giving it beautiful color and delicious flavor. You can use baby spinach or regular spinach leaves. 
• Pine nuts: I roughly chopped the pine nuts for a delicious crunchy texture. You can also use walnuts or cashews if you prefer. 
• Pork tenderloin: Pork tenderloin is deliciously tender and simple to cook. I recommend a lean pork tenderloin for this recipe.

You can find a full list of ingredients in the recipe card below

How To Make This Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In an oven-proof large skillet, cook the bacon in olive oil until crisp. Add the diced onion, garlic, and mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook no medium heat for about 8 minutes until the mushrooms have softened. Add the spinach and parsley and leave to cook for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted. Stir the pine ntus into the spinach mixture, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
2. Prepare the tenderloin by using a sharp knife to cut the silver skin off the top of the tenderloin (this makes the meat quite chewy). Cut lengthwise down the side of the tenderloin through the middle horizontally to within one-half inch of the other side. Open the tenderloin flat like a book and lay it open on a cutting board. Place plastic wrap over the meat and beat it down with a mallet or rolling pin until approx. 1/2 an inch thick.
3. Fill with the mushroom and bacon mixture evenly and roll it up, pressing down to ensure it’s tightly wrapped. Secure the loose end with toothpicks, skewers or twine. Season the outside with salt and black pepper.
4. Heat the olive oil in the oven-proof skillet on medium-high heat and sear the tenderloin on all sides until golden brown. Transfer the skillet to the oven or transfer it to a baking dish or roasting pan, and bake for 15-17 minutes until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat shows the internal temperature of the meat is 145 degrees.
5. Remove the tenderloin from the oven and place on a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. Brush the tenderloin with any of the pan drippings before slicing.  

Tips for How to Prepare This Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

After cutting the tenderloin in half lengthwise (but not all of the way through!) on a large cutting board, you open it up like a book, place a sheet of plastic wrap overtop, and then use all of your pent-up anger to beat it with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin until it’s an even thickness, approximately 1/2 an inch in thickness. While you could use string or kitchen twine (aka butcher’s twine) to tie it together, I found that toothpicks worked just as well and are much simpler. Just make sure that they are all pointing in the same direction to make searing the tenderloin easier.

Pork Tenderloin vs. Pork Loin

Pork tenderloin and pork loin are indeed different cuts of meat. Pork tenderloin is a long, thin muscle that runs under the spine. It is very tender and lean cut of pork and cooks much quicker. It is great for grilling, roasting, and sauteing. A pork loin roast is larger and wider and slightly less tender than the pork tenderloin, but not as large as a pork shoulder, and it cooks faster. It can be cooked in similar fashions, whether grilled or roasted, but it takes 1-2 hours.