pork marbella

Recently I was reading the February 2020 issue of Bon Appétit Magazine and saw a recipe for Pork Marbella in the “Home - Family Meal” column. This is Bon Appétit’s twist on Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook that was published in April 2007. Their chicken version cooks for 50-60 minutes whereas switching to pork tenderloin the cooking time is just 22-26 minutes. You can marinate the pork overnight, which I decided to do, but you don’t.

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For this recipe you’ll need pork tenderloin, white wine, pitted prunes, light brown sugar, pitted green olives, capers in brine, red wine vinegar, fresh garlic, oregano, butter and fresh parsley. The blend of these ingredients with the pork gives a briny and a bit of sweetness. The pork tenderloin is browned in the oven before baking. Once the pork is browned on all sides, the pan is removed from the heat and the balances of the ingredients are added to the pan. The pan then goes into a gentle oven, 325°, with the pork basted midway through. The pork is baked until the internal temperature reaches 145° and a bit pink in the center. The pork is placed on a cutting board so it can rest before cutting. The pan is placed on the stove-top and bit of butter is added to create a pan sauce.

After the pork has rested for 10 minutes, slice and drizzle some prune and olive sauce on top. The pork was delicious! Marinating overnight really infused the pork with lots of flavor. The combination of ingredients made for a very flavorful sauce that enhanced the pork. The texture of the olives and the prunes was a great contrast the tender pork.

If you decide to make this dish one evening, it should take approximately just under an hour. I’ve included prepping the sauce, baking and serving in my rough calculation. While the pork is baking in the oven, you’ll have to time to make a starch or a side salad.
Add this dish to your weeknight rotation. It’s a terrific way to prepare pork tenderloin which benefits from the addition of lots of flavor.