Garlic Rosemary Crusted Pork Tenderloin

This recipe has been in my “handwritten” cookbook for so long….according to my rather hieroglyphic like, hastily written recipe, it is adapted from a cookbook, Great Meals in Minutes. This is most definitely one of my family’s favorites! Super easy to prepare, this also makes a pretty awesome entrée for a dinner party. I made several of these pork tenderloins one year for a New Year’s Eve dinner party. It’s a great dish to dress up or dress down – kind of like a little black dress of food!

The pork tenderloin cooks to a tender, juicy and melt-in-your-mouth quality, with a delicious, textured and aromatic crust. The house smells simply amazing when this is in the oven!

The recipe calls for fresh garlic – I like to use Polaner’s chopped garlic in the jar.  If you’ve never used Polaner’s, I would recommend trying it. It’s fast, fresh and creates a great “paste” like consistency for this recipe. Another tip? We are BIG fans of the crust on this yummy pork tenderloin, so I always double the ingredients for the garlic-rosemary paste, to make sure I can cover every bit of the pork and get lots of tasty crust! After making this for so many years, I have found that the amount of ingredients to make the paste is just not enough. I would definitely recommend doubling what is listed below, except for the size of the pork tenderloin.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized cloves of garlic (Or use Polaner’s chopped garlic)
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary (make sure it’s fresh!)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 ½ – 2 lb. pork tenderloin roast

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and coarsely chop garlic – or make it really easy and use Polaner’s chopped garlic! Put garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a mortar – you’re going to use a pestle to grind these into a paste. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, put everything in a bowl and use another heavy kitchen tool to grind the mixture. Long ago, before I bought a mortar and pestle, I used a crab mallet to do this!

Use your pestle to mash, mix and grind the garlic, rosemary and spices to a paste-like consistency.

Crushing the rosemary & garlic with mortar and pestle

Place the pork tenderloin on a rack in a baking pan. I like to cover the pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up…remember, I’m the messy one!

Rub the garlic rosemary paste over the entire surface of the pork. You can use a brush, but it’s really fine, easy and fast to use your fingers to make sure you get every bit of the mixture on the meat. I start with a brush and wind up just going with my fingers!

Garlic rosemary paste spread on pork tenderloin and ready for the oven!

Roast the pork tenderloin on the middle rack of the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until meat thermometer registers 150 degrees.

See the gorgeous crust this develops? It is beyond delicious!

Finished Garlic Rosemary Crusted Pork Tenderloin, aromatic, delicious and ready to eat!

Let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it!

I’m kind of hungry now! What are you cooking this week?

Thank you so much for your visit!

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