Pork Loin in Sea Salt

This morning I stopped by our local butcher Overland Meat Co. to pick up something yummy for lunch. I was only cooking for one so I decided to grab a nice piece of pork loin and re-create a dish I learned while in Italy. I have been thinking about making this dish for the past few weeks and I'm so glad I did, it was the perfect light dish and very easy. It does take some time to marinate and to bake but I'm sure you can find something to do around the house while you are waiting or just relax and enjoy the day.

 The images here have only one piece of pork but the recipe is for two.

At first I was very concerned when my cooking teacher told be how much salt we would be putting on the pork she knew what she was doing so I didn't say a word and just followed instruction  It is amazing how it flavors the dish without making it too salty. You can find a lot of dishes in Italian restaurants like this especially fish dishes, it makes for a beautiful presentation at the table. I look forward to trying this with fish but for now here is a yummy pork dish for you to try out. 

Ingredients 

Makes 2-4 servings

2 thick pork loin chops 

1 cup of dry white wine

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 small red onion, minced

2 tbs black peppercorns

2-3 cups of sea salt (or more)

Place the pork loins into a shallow dish and cover with wine, garlic, onion and peppercorns. Cover the dish a refrigerate for at least 1 hour, flipping halfway through. 

Preheat the oven to 300. Drizzle a little olive oil onto a  baking dish or pan then a little sea salt. Remove the pork from the bowl and place into the pan then cover with more sea salt. Make sure the pork is totally covered in salt and drizzle 4-5 tablespoons of the wine from the marinade onto the pork. Place in the oven and bake at 300 for 45 minutes (or more if your pork is thick).

Remove from the oven, crack the salt crust. Dust as much salt from the pork as you can and diagonally cut the pork into thin pieces. Serve on a plate with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh cracked pepper. Enjoy!