Honey-Mustard Pork Roast with Bacon

 

If you're looking for something that looks beautiful, tastes delicious, and fills your house with wonderful aromas, then look no further.  Giada's Honey-Mustard Pork Roast is all of those things wrapped into one--plus bacon!  You can't go wrong with that!

Honey-Mustard Pork Roast with Bacon
Adapted from Giada at Home
Serves 6
Roast:
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I used thyme)
1 (3-1/2 pound) center-cut, boneless pork loin roast
12 slices (about 1 pound) bacon

Salad:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups (5 ounces) baby arugula (I used spinach)

Special Equipment: Kitchen Twine (I don't have any so I improvised)

Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.

In a  small bowl, mix together the Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, honey, garlic, and rosemary (thyme in my case), until smooth.  Spread the mustard mixture evenly over the pork.  Starting at one end, wrap a piece of bacon around the pork.  Wrap another slice of bacon around the pork, making sure to slightly overlap the first piece.  Continue with the remaining bacon until the pork is fully wrapped in bacon.  Using 6-8 pieces of kitchen twine, tied at regular intervals around the roast, secure the bacon in place.

Place the pork in a 9x13-inch baking pan and roast for 1 hour.  Cover the pan loosely with foil and roast for another 10-20 minutes (I didn't cover mine with foil because I wanted the bacon to brown), until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 160F.  Remove from the oven.  Cover the pan with foil again and allow the pork roast to rest for 20 minutes.  Remove the kitchen twine (if using) and slice the meat into 1/4 inch thick slices.

For the salad:  While the pork is resting, in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and oil until smooth.  Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Arrange the arugula (or spinach) on a large platter and drizzle with the dressing.  Lay the pork slices on top and serve.

Notes/Results:  This pork roast is fantastic!  The mustard flavor is not predominant, but does lend a wonderful flavor to the pork.  This recipe would be a wonderful choice for a family get together or dinner party because of it's beautiful presentation (plus it really does deliver in the flavor department).  I do have one tip to share.  I had a little trouble getting my bacon to crisp up,both on top of the roast, and underneath the roast.  I placed my roast on a roasting rack so that the air could circulate underneath and hopefully crisp up the bacon, but that didn't work so well.  I ended up broiling the roast on both sides so that the bacon would crisp and everything worked out well.  However, next time I will buy the kitchen twine, wrap the roast with the bacon, and sear the roast with the bacon on it, in a skillet, before putting it in the oven.  The bacon just needs a little help to crisp up a bit.  Other than that, this is a wonderful recipe that I plan on using often.

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