You Absolutely Must Try This Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast With Peach Sauce
SERVES 8
TIME 2¼ hours, plus minimum 1 hour curing
INGREDIENTS
Pork
Kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 (3 1/2-pound) boneless center-cut pork loin roast
2 teaspoons herbs de Provence
10 slices bacon
Sauce
20 ounces frozen peaches, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup cider vinegar
4 sprigs fresh thyme
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Buy a pork loin roast that measures about 9 inches long and is between 4 and 5 inches in diameter. Do not use thick-cut bacon here. The peaches needn’t be thawed before making the sauce. The pork needs to cure for at least an hour before cooking.
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE PORK: Combine 4 teaspoons salt and sugar in bowl. Remove fat cap and silverskin from roast. Rub roast with salt-sugar mixture, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
FOR THE SAUCE: Bring peaches, wine, sugar, vinegar, thyme sprigs, and salt to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook at strong simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 2 cups and spatula leaves trail when dragged through sauce, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and discard thyme sprigs. Reserve 2 tablespoons of liquid portion of sauce (without peach segments) in small bowl for glazing. Cover and set aside remaining sauce.
Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. Unwrap roast and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with herbs de Provence and 1 teaspoon pepper.
Arrange bacon slices on cutting board parallel to counter’s edge, overlapping them slightly to match length of roast. Place roast in center of bacon, perpendicular to slices. Bring ends of bacon up and around sides of roast, overlapping ends of slices as needed.
Place bacon-wrapped roast, seam side down, in center of prepared sheet. Roast until center of pork registers 90 degrees, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove roast from oven and increase oven temperature to 475 degrees.
Brush top and sides of roast with reserved 2 tablespoons sauce. Once oven reaches temperature, return pork to oven and roast until bacon is well browned and meat registers 130 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Transfer roast to wire rack and let rest for 15 minutes.
Stir mustard into sauce and rewarm over low heat. Transfer roast to carving board and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve with peach sauce.
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated