Easy & Savory Pork Roast

Pork Roast, like simple roast chicken, is one of those dishes that can make you a kitchen rock star.

It looks impressive, tastes amazing, and is incredibly easy to make.

The good old pork loin roast is my go to meal for holidays that don’t require roast turkey.

I’ve spruced it up with a delicious mustard and herb crust. The oven does all the work for you and delivers moist, tender pork goodness.

Here’s what you need:

Pork Loin Roast, Whole Grain Mustard, Rosemary, Garlic, Olive Oil, Flour, White Wine, Chicken Broth, Salt & Pepper.

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Good (and clean!) cooking string is also needed if your roast does not come from the store already tied up. If your roast is tied up with a big plastic mesh thing, PLEASE take that off and re-tie it with cooking twine. If you don’t have twine, ask at the butcher counter and they will most likely give some to you for free. You can also ask them to cut off that dumb plastic thing and re-tie your roast with twine and they will probably be happy to do that as well. You won’t be able to put the lovely mustard crust on the roast if it is covered in plastic mesh.

Also needed is a good meat thermometer! The instant read kind is my favorite and available at most grocery stores for a few bucks.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

To make the coating for the roast, chop up 2-3 large cloves of garlic. I don’t measure things exactly for this mixture, you’ll be able to judge and adjust the amount of toppings to cover whatever size roast you have.

Strip the leaves off a few stems of fresh rosemary and chop it up. You’ll want at least 2 Tablespoons of chopped rosemary.

By the way, fresh rosemary makes a huge difference in flavor for this dish. Dried is okay, but not really the same.

Add 1/4 cup (or more) whole grain mustard to the garlic and rosemary. Drizzle in 2 Tablespoons (or more) olive oil and stir to make a thick paste. Season the paste with salt & pepper.

If you need to re-tie your pork, the easiest way is to cut a few lengths of cooking string and lay them out on your cutting board.

Plop the roast right on top and tie it up every few inches. Pork bondage.

Smear the delicious mustard coating all over the pork roast — top, bottom and all sides.

Take note of the weight of your pork roast. You will need to calculate cooking time  at 15 – 20 minutes per pound of meat.

Place the roast FAT SIDE UP in a shallow roasting pan and cook at 400 degrees for  15-20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. At 20 minutes per pound, a 3 pound roast will take 1 hour or slightly less. I always start checking the temperature of the roast about 45-50 minutes into the cooking time. It almost NEVER takes the full hour to cook.

Put the roast on a platter, cover lightly with foil, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

Note:  The internal cooking times for pork have recently been lowered by the powers that be. Remember that once you take the pork out of the oven, it will be hot and will continue to cook while it rests. However, if you have people who are squeamish about eating pork that is in the least little bit pink (Hi Mom), go ahead and cook your pork to 150 degrees. If you get above 160, however, you will risk having a dry roast.

This roast is fabulous and nearly perfect on its own. However, I come from a sauce and gravy loving family so letting all those dripping and tasty bits in the pan go to waste is just not an option. Gravy is needed.

If you need to have pristine gravy with no little charred bits, strain the grease out of the roasting pan and into a separate pan. I want all the flavor of the bits in the bottom of the pan, so I just cook my gravy right in the roasting pan.

Add 2-3 Tablespoons of flour to the pan drippings to make a roux. You want to eyeball this and try to have equal parts flour and drippings. That might mean that you add a bit more flour until you can make a paste.

Pour in about 1/2 cup of white wine (again, I don’t really measure – gravy is not an exact science) and stir to remove the lumps.

Add chicken stock (sometimes if I have it, I like to add both chicken and beef stock) until you have the consistency of gravy. This will probably be 1 –  1 1/2 cups of broth.

Remember your resting pork roast? Well, it has probably given off some lovely juices that should be added to the pan of gravy.

Season to taste with salt & pepper. Again, if those little bits are bothersome to you, you can strain the gravy before serving.

Once the pork has rested, cut off the strings and slice it into nice serving pieces.

Serve with a little gravy drizzled over the top or with the gravy on the side.

Serious kitchen rock star status awaits you once you make a pork roast. No need to confess how easy it really is!

Here’s the recipe:

Pork Loin Roast