Animal Flesh Recipe of the Day.

Mortadella Stuffed Pork Loin: Lombo di Maiale Ripieno di Mortadella

That's good eating in any language, paisan!

This delicious and delightful pork dish is dedicated to the guys and gals of binbacon.com, makers of Fyodor's favorite gun lube.

This dish was inspired by a truffled mortadella we tasted in Rome. Good-quality mortadella can be found at butcher shops, at Italian markets, and even in the deli section of many supermarkets. Pork can be butterflied and stuffed 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Pork:
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
5 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 (3 1/2-pound) center-cut boneless pork loin roast (4 to 5 inches in diameter), trimmed, leaving a 1/4-inch layer of fat if possible
6 tablespoons black truffle butter, softened
1/2 pound thinly sliced mortadella

Sauce:
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon black truffle butter

Special Equipment:
a mortar and pestle;
kitchen string;
a 17 by 11-inch flameproof roasting pan with an adjustable V-rack;
an instant-read thermometer

Serving Suggestion: roasted potatoes

To make the pork:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Coarsely crush peppercorns and 2 teaspoons kosher salt with mortar and pestle, then add garlic and mash until a paste forms.
Stir in unsalted butter. Reserve.
If pork loin has been tied, discard strings.
Put loin, fat side down, on a cutting board lined with plastic wrap.

Butterfly pork in a spiral cut:
Find beginning of a flap on 1 long side of loin (where bone was removed). Starting at inside edge of flap, make a long cut lengthwise down side of loin with a very sharp boning or paring knife, stopping 1 inch from bottom (this is beginning of spiral).
Turn knife parallel to bottom of loin and begin to cut your way inward (parallel to bottom), keeping thickness of meat as even as possible, using your other hand to gently lift and pull top portion of meat away from knife, until loin is 1 long flat piece of meat.
Cover pork with a sheet of plastic wrap and pound to 1/2-inch thick with a smooth meat pounder or rolling pin.
Remove plastic wrap and spread 2 tablespoons truffle butter over pork. Top with half of mortadella, slightly overlapping slices.
Spread 2 tablespoons truffle butter over mortadella, then top with remaining mortadella and spread with remaining 2 tablespoons truffle butter.
Beginning with end that was interior of loin, roll up loin tightly and arrange, seam side down (fat side up), on cutting board.
If fat layer is 1/4-inch thick, make very close crosswise cuts in it (about 1/8 inch apart; do not cut through to meat), then tie with kitchen string at 1-inch intervals.
Rub roast all over with peppercorn butter, covering fat layer well.
Put pork, fat side up, on oiled rack in roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 20 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F and roast the pork until a thermometer inserted diagonally 2 inches into meat registers 145 degrees F, about 45 minutes.
Transfer pork to a platter and let stand 25 minutes.

To make the sauce:
Skim as much fat as possible from pan juices. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add broth and deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute.
Stir together water and cornstarch, then add to broth mixture and boil, whisking, 1 minute.
Remove from heat and whisk in truffle butter.
Discard string, then slice pork and serve with sauce and potatoes.
(Thanks to Gourmet Magazine and Food Network.)