4th Place Honorable Mention – 2014 Recipe Contest
Chef Richie here, at your service!
Hope you had a great Christmas and wishing you a fun New Year! Now on to this month’s winner…
Our fourth honorable mention prizewinner in our 2014 recipe contest is…home chef…drum roll please…Cornelia Henderson! Congratulations Chef!
The story: One fine day, here in the Mooney Farms/Bella Sun Luci Tuscan test kitchen, I cooked Cornelia’s recipe for Tuscan Pork Tenderloin. This luscious dish was in the running for a top-three prize and just missed. It was GREAT. All of our tasters loved it (my sous chef Eileen called it a “Home Run!”). This is your holiday go-to dish to impress the in-laws. The end…you lived happily ever after.
Pork tenderloin (my personal favorite cut of pork)…check. Bacon (um, my other favorite cut of pork)…check. Gorgonzola…check. Bella Sun Luci Bruschetta…Check. A great combination of flavors and textures and Chef Richie Says: THAT’S AMORE!
Chef Cornelia will be receiving a deluxe gift assortment of Bella Sun Luci ingredients and I hope she submits a recipe for next year’s Mooney Farms/Bella Sun Luci recipe contest because she is the real deal.
Tuscan Pork Tenderloin
Chef Richie Says: Have your butcher butterfly it open FOR YOU!
Serves 2-4 for half; 4-8 for whole (I used whole tenderloins that weighed just over 1 pound each).
Ingredients (double everything if using the whole tenderloin)
- Pork tenderloin butterflied (as for a jelly roll)
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- 3 TB Bella Sun Luci Bruschetta
- ½ cup spinach leaves
- ½ cup crumbled gorgonzola
- 3 strips bacon
- salt & pepper to taste.
Directions
Open the butterflied tenderloin. Sprinkle with dried basil, salt and pepper. Rub with the bruschetta. Layer on spinach leaves and gorgonzola. Carefully roll up, jelly roll style and wrap with bacon. Secure with toothpicks if required (this was not necessary for me, I made sure the places where the bacon strips ended were down on the pan, which seared them closed). Salt and pepper surface to taste (optional). Roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes, carve and serve.
Happy cooking and buon appetito!
Con amore,
Chef Richie Hirshen, Corporate Chef
Mooney Farms and Bella Sun Luci. Chico, CA
