Recipe: Roast Pork Loin, Steenberg Hotel, South Africa

[Tripatini]

By the Tripatini staff

You won't find many hotels like the Steenberg Hotel in South Africa – or anywhere else, for that matter. Set in the Constantia Valley wine region just outside Cape Town, the Steenberg dates back to 1685, making it the oldest farm in the area. Yes, we said “farm,” because not only is the Steenberg a five-star hotel with marvelous antiques and great golf and spa facilities, but it's also a working vineyard.

This being wine country, you might suppose that the restaurant at the Steenberg Hotel, Catharina, is a seriously good place to eat – and you'd be right. Chef Garth Almazan is such a master of contemporary South African cuisine, it's a shame we can't all meet for dinner at Catharina's this Saturday night. We can, however, have a taste of South Africa right at home, because Chef Almazan has agreed to reveal his recipe for roast pork sirloin. And we think you're going to love it.

Roast Pork Sirloin

with red onion marmalade, ciabatta crouton, asparagus, wild mushrooms

Serves four

Ingredients

400 grams (14 ounces) pork sirloin

2 red onions, finely sliced

400 ml (13.5 fl. oz.) red wine

150 g (5.3 oz.) castor sugar

Ciabatta

Olive oil

8 asparagus spears

100 g (3.5 oz.) mixed mushrooms (shitake, oyster, portebellini, etc.)

Prepare the Pork

Cut pork loin into four 100 g portions, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Make the Red Onion Marmalade

Put the onions, wine, and sugar in a sauté pan and cook on a low heat until all the red wine is reduced and the onions are soft.

Make Ciabatta Croutons

Cut four slices of ciabatta bread and with a 5 cm (2 in.) round cutter, cut out four discs, rub with olive oil, and lightly toast in a pan and set aside.

Cook the Pork

Add some olive oil to a pan and sear the pork loin on each side.

Transfer to a roasting tray and cook in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180ºC (350F), leave to rest.

In the same pan in which you cooked the pork loin add a little more olive oil and sauté the mushrooms, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Blanch the asparagus spears in boiling water for one minute and set aside.

Serve

Put the croutons off center on four warm plates, put a spoon of the marmalade on top of each crouton. Sit the pork loin on top of the marmalade and place the mushrooms and asparagus around the plate.