This was a special Easter for Steve and me; it was our 10th one together. To make this dish special, I’m serving my Garlic and Fennel Bone-In Pork Loin and my Garlic Roasted Potatoes with Sautéed Peppers and Lemon Pepper Asparagus family-style.

I’ve posted links for both my other two recipes; they’re available at the end of this post.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Yields: 8 servings
Equipment: roasting pan with a rack, 1 (10-cup) food processor,  meat-safe cutting board, chef’s knife, whisk, 1 (2-cup) liquid measuring cup, cutting board

Ingredients for the Fennel and Garlic Bone-In Pork Loin :
1 (5-pound) bone-in pork loin, bones French-cut
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup of fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons of lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons of creamy Caesar dressing
1 heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper, freshly-ground

Ingredients for the Pan Gravy:
2 tablespoons of butter, unsalted
4 tablespoons of the pan drippings
6 tbsps of all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups of chicken broth, unsalted
2 tablespoons of Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°F

Place the pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it comfortably. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the garlic, rosemary, and fennel seeds until roughly chopped. Add the Caesar dressing, olive oil, Kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper until it becomes a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a small mixing bowl, add the lemon zest, and mix until well combined.

Rub the mixture all over the top of the pork and roast for 1 to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is between 140 and 145°F. Remove from the oven, transfer to a meat-safe cutting board, and cover tightly with foil. Allow the pork to rest for 30 minutes. Slice between the bones and serve immediately.

While the pork is resting, start the pan gravy.
Carefully pour the hot liquid from the roasting pan through a mesh sieve into a measuring cup. This allows you to see how much of the pan drippings you have to work with.

Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium-high heat. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Once the butter has melted, add the flour, and whisk to combine until a smooth paste (*roux) forms, which is blond in color. Still whisking, slowly add the  4 tablespoons of pan drippings and chicken broth, and bring to a simmer. Continue to whisk; the *roux will cause the gravy to thicken. Add the finely chopped parsley, and stir to combine. Transfer the gravy to a large gravy boat.

There you have it, my Fennel and Garlic Bone-In Pork Loin.

Notes:
1) Pork loin needs to be at room temperature. Allow the meat to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

2) *Roux is a 1:1 ratio of fat to all-purpose flour. (example: 1 tbsp of butter (or fat) to 1 tbsp of flour).

3) Linda Lou Hamel is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through the online nutritional calculator of your choice. Calories and values can vary depending on the brands you choose.

https://lindalouhamel.com/2019/04/29/garlic-roasted-potatoes-with-sauteed-peppers/

https://lindalouhamel.com/2015/07/06/lemon-pepper-asparagus/