Pork tenderloin stuffed with dates and hazelnuts

The pork tenderloin is in itself a wonderful little piece of meat, but with this simple recipe you'll turn it into something truly spectacular. It's a great autumn or winter dish, and apart from tying the piece together (which isn't hard at all) the rest is really dead-simple. Here's how:

Ingredients (3-4 people):
1 pork tenderloin
A handful of hazelnuts
A handful of pitless dates
A couple of twigs of fresh parsley
1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan (not the pregrated stuff, please!)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for frying
For the sauce:
1 tsp flour
Worstershire sauce
1 cup of cream

Turn on your oven at 180º. Start by removing the silvery line of connecting tissue and any excessive fat. Cut off the thin end, so you end up with a regularly sized piece of meat.

Place the cut-off end piece in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Add a little pepper. Remember the parmesan is already salty, so don't add too much salt at this stage. Whiz it until you have a paste. You can add an egg white if it seems very dry. Don't have a food processor? Get out the old chopping board and start chopping.

Cut the loin down the middle but stop a couple of millimetres from going all the way through. Open it up like a book. Cut into each side of the opened piece of meat, to open it even further. You can now give it a couple of superficial, diagonal slashes, place a piece of cling film on top and hammer it flat with the base of a pan or any other heavy piece of kitchen equipment. This will do two things; 1) the meat will extend more and 2) it will become equally thick all over which allows for an even cooking time (one of the golden rules of cooking).

Turn it over and place a "sausage" of the filling down in the middle. Roll it up. Don't worry if stuffing comes out the ends - it almost always does. Make a loop on a piece of kitchen twine. Tie one end of your rolled up meat together and then just, carefully, tie the rest of the meat together. If you're a fancy chef, there are elaborated ways to do this, but trust me, even the simplest of knots won't affect the taste. You just want to prevent the meat from opening up.
Season the meat well and sear it until its brown on all sides in a frying pan. Finish it off in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 180º, depending on the size of your piece of meat. If you have a oven thermometer, the internal temperature should reach 72º. When finished, take it out, wrap it in tinfoil, while making the sauce. The sauce is made by simply adding a teaspoon of flour to the pan the tenderloin was cooked in, add a bit of extra oil if it's very dry. Don't worry about any stuck pieces of meat, this is all part of the fond. Fry the flour for a minute until it starts sticking to everything. Then pour in splash of worstershire sauce, and a cup of cream. Stir constantly while heating it slowly. Taste for salt and pepper.

Remove the twine and cut the end bits off. Cut the rest into 3 or 4 pieces. Serve with the sauce, rice or potatoes and a nice, fresh salad.