Pig out! Steal this super stuffed-pork recipe

Phil Lempert TODAY Food Editor • Profile • E-mail

In this special weekly feature, “Today” food editor Phil Lempert brings you recipes “stolen” (with permission) from notable restaurants across America. See how much fun you can have (and money you can save) by cooking these dishes at home!

THIS WEEK: Pork Tenderloin Stuffed With Spinach, Fontina Cheese and Sun Dried Tomatoes, from the Siena Italian Grill and Bar in Mashpee, Mass.

Vivere bene, mangiare bene, socializare! (Live well, eat well and be social!)

That’s the motto of the Siena Italian Grill and Bar, a Tuscan-inspired restaurant located on Cape Cod, a busy and beautiful tourist area in eastern Massachusetts. This recipe for Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Spinach, Fontina Cheese, and Sun Dried Tomatoes is brought to us by executive chef Archie Andrews and incorporates one of Italy’s greatest cheeses, fontina. It’s also fun to prepare and delightful to eat.

About the chef:
Archie Andrews grew up on Cape Cod and started working his way up the ranks in several local restaurants when he was a teenager. In 2001 he moved to New York City to hone his skills further, before returning to the Cape in 2003 to start a family. (His daughter, Bella, was born last year.)

Andrews has been at Siena since his return, first as sous chef and in the top spot from last fall.

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For fun, Andrews enjoys working with his multinational kitchen staff to re-create specialties from their home countries — most recently they have been tinkering with Jamaican-style jerk chicken!

(PLEASE NOTE: Amounts listed are for four portions. Increase or decrease proportionately according to number of portions desired.)

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed With Spinach, Fontina Cheese and Sun Dried Tomatoes
1 whole pork tenderloin, about 24 ounces
6 ounces fresh baby spinach (1 bag)
6 ounces fontina cheese
5 ounces sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Kristina Quinlavin / Siena Italian Grill and Bar

Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine (can be made with any hearty red, or use something sweeter and richer if you prefer. Port or marsala wine will complement pork very nicely.)
1 tablespoon veal demiglace (available in a jar from specialty stores), diluted in 1 cup hot water

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin:

1. Sautee spinach in a covered saucepan with 2 tablespoons water until it is wilted.
2. Drain and cool.
3. Butterfly the pork tenderloin: Slice the length of the tenderloin, so that it unrolls with an even 1/2-inch to 1/4-inch thickness — like unrolling a Ho-Ho or a Yodel pastry.
4. Pound the tenderloin even thinner between two sheets of cellophane wrap. If you don’t have a pounder, use the flat bottom of a small, heavy cooking pan.
5. Remove cellophane and spread the spinach, fontina and tomatoes along the whole length of the piece of meat.
6. Roll the tenderloin up, and hold it together with kitchen string (in a pinch, use toothpicks).
7. Rub the entire outside of the roast with salt and pepper. Wrap it in cellophane if you will be cooking it later. [You can prepare the roast up to 1 day ahead, as far as this step]
8. Preheat oven to 400F. If roast was prepared in advance, take it out of the refrigerator and cellophane while oven is heating.
9. Place olive oil in an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork loin and brown on all sides.
10. Place in oven and roast for 10-15 minutes — until meat reaches an internal temperature of 150F.
11. Remove meat from pan and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5-15 minutes. Slice the roast diagonally, and pour the sauce over the pieces.

Red Wine Reduction Sauce:

1. Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add shallots and cook until golden, about 3 minutes.
3. Increase heat to moderate-high, and add vinegar.
4. Cook another 2 minutes, and add wine.
5. When sauce is reduced by about half, add the diluted demiglace.
6. Cook until the liquid volume is again reduced by half.

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Note: This sauce takes 20-25 minutes to prepare. It can be prepared a day ahead if you prefer, and reheated over moderate-low heat.

Siena Italian Grill and Bar
Mashpee Commons
38 Nathan Ellis Highway
Mashpee, MA 02649
508-477-5929
www.siena.us

Want to nominate your favorite restaurant dish for a "Steal This Recipe" feature? Just e-mail Phil at (or use the mail box below) with the name of the restaurant, city and state, and the dish you would like to have re-created. Want to know more about Phil and food? Visit his Web site at www.supermarketguru.com.

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