Bacon…do I actually have to say more? I didn’t think so.

So this Lockdown Easter called for something special to liven things up; I thought why not bacon wrapped pork? And why not stuff it with cream cheese? And because it’s Spring, use fruit? All good things, all good things…and they came together to create a GREAT thing. This recipe is perfect for any special occasion and easy enough for a random Tuesday.

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon (not thick sliced)
• 1 pork loin, 2-3 pounds
• 4 ounces scallion cream cheese
• 7 oz Raspberry Jam
• 3 teaspoons Tobasco Chipotle Sauce
• Fresh raspberries (pint clamshell)
• 1 bunch Scallions
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300F
2. Cover small cookie sheet or shallow baking dish or pan with foil, preferably non-stick. Be sure foil goes up and over the sides with no seams. You will thank me when it comes time for clean-up.
3. Lay slices of bacon on cookie sheet (reserve 2 to top the meat with)
4. Carefully trim any fat or silverskin from pork loin.
5. Butterfly meat down the middle, cutting about 3/4 of the way through the meat. Lay it out on top of bacon.
6. Place cream cheese down the middle. Dot a line of raspberries on top of the cream cheese and dash chipotle Tobasco across them. Snip off a few tips of scallions across the cream cheese and berries.
7. Fold pork back up so that cream cheese is enveloped and wrap tenderloin with bacon. Use the extra two pieces of bacon to cover the seam where the ends meet in the middle.
8. Season with freshly ground pepper.
9. Mix raspberry jam with the Tobasco sauce til well blended.
10. Baste entire bacon-wrapped tenderloin with enough raspberry chipotle sauce to cover but not so much that it drips excessively onto the cookie sheet. Top with remaining raspberries and more sliced scallions.
11. Bake covered with foil tent for 1.5 hours. After 1 hours, remove foil cover so that the bacon can crisp up. Bacon should be well-cooked and evenly browned all over. Pork should cook to 160 Fahrenheit for “medium”….you may want to remove from the oven when inner temp is around 150 as it will continue to cook while sitting.
12. After removing from the oven, return foil tent and allow to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. Don’t waste any juices! Drizzle back over the top of the sliced meat.

Ok so for my photos, you’re seeing a 6.75 pound pork loin to feed 7 because Easter which cooked for 2.5 hours (still uncovered in the last 30 mins). The recipe with the listed measurements is for “personal” and everyday eating.