Ingredients:

• 2.5kg Pork Loin Roast (trimmed and butterflied in half lengthwise)
• 200g Sliced Prosciutto
• 2 Lemons (juiced and zest finely grated)
• 5 Garlic Cloves (peeled and minced)
• 1 Bunch Sage (washed, and chopped)
• 1 Bunch Parsley (washed, and chopped)
• 5 Sprigs Thyme (washed, and chopped)
• 1 Bunch Chives (washed, and chopped)
• 600ml Chicken Stock
• 100ml Madeira
• 1tbsp Cornstarch

Instructions:

Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Loin

1. Lay the pork loin cut side opened up.  Season with salt, pepper, and add your lemon zest, garlic, parsley, thyme and sage.  Fold back your pork loin and set it aside.
2. Lay your prosciutto slices slightly overlapping one another in two rows till you have a rectangle that’s a little longer than the length of your pork loin roast.  Place your pork loin on top of your sliced prosciutto and roll the pork loin till it’s completely wrapped with prosciutto.  Secure the prosciutto by trussing it with butchers twine all across the length of the pork loin.
3. Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
4. Place your pork loin in a shallow roasting pan, and roast in the oven center shelf for approximately 2¼hrs.  About halfway through cooking, turn your pan to help rotate and evenly cook your roast pork.  Check your pork loin after about 1½-1¾hrs, to see if it’s ready.   Your roast is ready when the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
5. Allow your pork loin to rest for 30mins before carving.

Gravy

1. Deglaze the roasting pan used for roasting the pork loin with you lemon juice and  Madeira.  Pour your pan juices into a pan and cook under medium high heat and allow the lemon juice and Madeira to reduce down to a syrup.  Add your chicken stock and bring it up to a boil.  Cook for 5mins.
2. Dissolve your cornstarch with a splash of water and carefully add it to your gravy a little at a time.  Checking the consistency after each addition to suit your taste.
3. Pass your gravy through a strainer and add your chopped chives to finish.

Assemble

1. Place your pork loin onto a serving plate and pour your sauce and garnish over top.

Notes

• Not gonna lie, this was actually originally adapted from an old Gordon Ramsay recipe from his television series the F-Word.  But having said that, and studying Italian cuisine, this and Gordon’s recipe is very similar to classic Italian recipes for Roast Pork where they employ the use of parsley, sage, thyme, lemon, garlic, etc as seasoning into their pork.  The only thing I’ve really done is wrapped the pork in prosciutto to give it another dimension and to prevent the lean pork meat from drying out.
• If you want to try this recipe on a smaller scale, you can substitute the pork loin with boneless skinless chicken breast that’s been butterflied open.  You stuff the chicken breast with the fresh herbs and spices and than wrapped it with prosciutto.  The cooking time shouldn’t be any longer than 20-25mins in the oven at 325ºF.
• This is a cheap, affordable and tasty dish to prepare and serve if you happen to need to feed a large crowd on a budget.  With the exception of the prosciutto and maybe the Madeira, all the ingredients listed in this recipe are easy to find and affordable.
• You can easily prepare the pork a day or two ahead and than take it out of fridge a couple of hours before you need to roast it.  All you have to worry about than is preparing the sauce.