Hard Cider Pork Roast with Pink Lady Apples
How to add roasted apples to a hard cider pork roast
If you would like the roasted apples to be a bit firmer, add them during the last 30 minutes of roasting. It’s all about what you like! Either way, this is one terrific fall recipe.
Use a hard apple cider or apple and pear cider to both braise and make a sauce for this delicious autumn entrée. Rosy-colored Pink Lady apples are my favorite for this recipe but Honeycrisps also work great!
Yield: Serves 6
Hard Apple Cider Pork Roast with Pink Lady Apples
Prep time: 45 MinCook time: 1 H & 20 MTotal time: 2 H & 5 M
Use a hard apple cider or apple and pear cider to both braise and make a sauce for this delicious autumn entrée. Rosy-colored Pink Lady apples are my favorite for this recipe but Honeycrisps also work great!
Ingredients
Pork dry rub:
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pork Loin Roast:
- One 2½-pound pork loin roast
- 2 medium white onions, peeled and quartered
- 1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, skin-on and scrubbed, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 3 firm apples, cut into quarters depending on size, core and seeds removed
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups hard apple cider plus 1 additional cup (as needed)
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
Hard Apple Cider Gravy
- 2 cups strained juice from the pork roast
- Additional hard cider, as needed
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons hard cider
Instructions
- In a bowl, make the dry rub. Combine the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Rub the pork roast with the dry rub mixture. Place pork loin in a roasting pan. Drizzle pork with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pork from the pan. Discard the marinade. Place onions, sweet potatoes, and apples in the bottom of a cleaned roasting pan. Make six ½-inch slits along the width of the pork roast. Insert a whole garlic clove into each slit. Heat a large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When hot, add the pork. Sear on all sides.
- Remove and place the seared pork in the roasting pans. Surround pork with the vegetables. Deglaze the sauté pan with 2 cups of the hard cider and the 1 cup of stock. Simmer for 2 minutes. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, scrape up any bits of pork from the pan. Pour the cider/stock mixture over the roast. Roast for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Roast an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour. Baste roast periodically with the pan juices, adding additional cider as needed. Roast the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer. Remove the roast and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Allow the roast to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
- Prepare the sauce: Transfer the onions, potatoes and apples to a serving platter. Strain the pan juices into a measuring cup. Add additional cider as needed to make 2 cups. Place in a saucepan and heat to a low boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until mixture is reduced by ¼. Add the cream, maple syrup, parsley, rosemary, salt, and pepper. With sauce on low heat, drizzle in cornstarch mixture to slightly thicken.
- Slice the pork roast and place on a serving platter. Drizzle pork with sauce, serving extra sauce on the side.
Notes
Prep time: 45 minutes plus 6 hours to marinate the pork loin
Cook time: 1 hour and 20 minutes (includes roasting the pork and preparing the sauce)