Pork Roulade

Pork roulade with pork picnic roast or tenderloin in the oven turns out great. A sweet savory dinner rolled up with apples, cut thin and served as a high protein meal that is always moist and fork tender.

What is pork roulade?

Pork roulade is a dish made by butterflying and flattening a pork cut (usually a pork loin, boneless shoulder or tenderloin), then filling it with a stuffing or fruit, rolling it up tightly, and tying or securing it before roasting or searing and baking.

What is the best cut of pork for roulade?

Other than the loin you can use a large Smithfield pork tenderloin or for a larger cut I would choose a boneless pork shoulder. With that you can slice, or cut with a sharp knife as you turn it over so that it is sliced thinner but in a long piece that stays connected. Easier to roll up in this fashion if you have a steady hand to do so.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to want to start with a large boneless pork shoulder used with fat side left on, loin, boneless Boston Butt, or tenderloin works well too except the latter is much smaller and won’t feed as many. I mean you could use a bunch of Thin Pork Chops in Oven worst case.

If it is a thick hunk like porketta roast you will want to use a sharp knife to slice it as you turn it so you have a thinner long piece you can fill with all the goodies.

Salt and pepper are the basic seasonings but you can incorporate whatever you like. Sage is great with the apples for added Fall type of flavors to the dish. Coriander we love as another option with some thyme (you could use Italian seasonings in a jar too).

I use chicken broth but you could use stock or even vegetable broth would be an option for the necessary liquid needed. I recommend this over water because that doesn’t lend any flavor to the dish so go with something that will enhance the flavors.

As for the filling, apples, we choose green Granny Smith for a pop of tart inside of there if that is your liking. Choose Fuji if you want it a bit sweeter or a combination of the two is actually quite delicious for a cross of tartness and sweet.

Use a small onion diced or minced into the mix for a kick of savory in there. A little goes well inside for another layer of flavor and a bit more texture too. I prefer fresh vs. minced and dried for obvious reasons but if I need to spell it out, the texture just doesn’t compare.

We add garlic to everything. I use minced and jarred but freshly diced cloves works too if you want to really impress your guests. If I have time I will roast them just a bit to deepen the flavor.

Butter is going to round out our list needed to make this dish. You can choose a dairy free alternative if that is necessary. Country Crock has a great plant based substitute that tastes amazingly similar to the “real thing”. This is needed to saute the ingredients for the filling.

How do you remove bone from pork shoulder?

Start by making a shallow incision along the length of the bone to expose it. This will create a guide for your knife. Then insert the boning knife along the exposed bone, using it to gently separate the meat from the bone. Follow the contours of the bone while keeping the knife as close to the bone as possible.

As you work, use your fingers to help separate the meat from the bone. Be careful not to cut yourself. Continue to cut around the bone, gently separating the meat from the bone until you’ve completely removed it.

After removing the bone, inspect the meat for any excess fat, cartilage, or tough connective tissue, and trim it away as needed. Finally, run your fingers through the meat to ensure there are no small bone fragments left behind. Remove any if you find them.

How do you Butterfly Pork Loin?

Place the pork loin roast on the cutting board with the fatty side down. Hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and make a horizontal cut into the center of the pork loin, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (the side farthest from you). Be careful not to cut all the way through; you want to create a “hinge” on one side.

Then open up the pork loin like a book, so it lies flat. Use your hand to gently press down on the top to help flatten it further. If it doesn’t open evenly, you can make slight additional cuts as needed. If the butterflied loin is still too thick, you can place it between two sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound it with a meat mallet

Tips

The roasting pan (like you would with crown roast of pork) should be rather deep. If you don’t have this exactly, a 9×13″ pan will work just fine. A pan is needed to saute the apples and onions until softened too.

Below we explain how to bake this in the oven. I like the texture you get from that with a bit of crisp on the outside. Alternatively you could use our 3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Pork Roast, but with the filling.

How to make the gravy (optional)

You could puree the broth/apple mixture in the pan and thicken with cornstarch or flour on the stovetop until thicker to make a sort of onion gravy. You just need to make a bit of a roux with 1 tbsp of cornstarch + 3 tbsp cold water to thicken the drippings. Arrowroot is a gluten free alternative to do the same thing.

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