This easy pork tenderloin recipe uses a combination of rosemary, garlic and pancetta to infuse flavor into the meat. Grilling over indirect heat crisps the pancetta beautifully, while keeping the pork moist and tender. Delicious served with oven-roasted tomatoes and creamy polenta.
PrintPancetta-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
Pancetta and pork? A match made in heaven, only made better by rosemary and garlic.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
- Category: Main Dishes
Ingredients
- 2–3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 lb each
- 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta or bacon
Instructions
- Combine the garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and rub this mixture into the pork loins.
- Wrap with the pancetta and secure with toothpicks or string. Allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Grill over indirect heat until the internal temperature is 140°F, turning the tenderloins once during cooking. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Recipe Notes:
This recipe uses the indirect grilling method, which means the food is placed next to, rather than directly over, the grill flame. This method protects larger or tougher cuts of meat from burning over high heat – perfect for getting a juicy pork tenderloin with just slightly crispy pancetta on the outside.
Also, rosemary doesn't necessarily adhere to the meat very well on its own, so coax it into submission by adding a little bit of olive oil and worcestershire sauce to the blend. The garlic and herb mixture adhered to the tenderloin much better with just a little extra moisture.
Recipe adapted from WWRecipes.com
Kevin Oelmann says
back off the lemon was very tender and crisp in the right places but way to much lemon for my taste
Lynne Webb says
Hi Kevin,
One teaspoon of lemon zest per tenderloin works for us, but it is a matter of taste and if you’re not a fan, you could simply omit it altogether.
Thymes of Change says
This is my first time, as a new blogger, adding a comment. My step-daughter mentioned the Foodgawkers website and I soon joined after learning about it. I’ve been actively searching and adding to my favourites and tonight I am happy to say I successfully created a lovely dinner for two from this particular pork recipe.
It was a first of many kinds.
– One in that the dinner was actually organized — or at least that was the plan. I printed the recipe and had wonderful thoughts of stopping off at the grocery store to get the few items I required after my daughter’s Ortho appointment. BUT, with an appointment at 3:30, and it was late, and took a while, and dealing with afterwork traffice, that grocery trip did not happen. BUT I had the recipe with me and luckily enough I had all the ingredients. I did have to swap the pancetta for bacon, but it wasn’t a disasterous substitution.
The other “first” is that we used our bbq for the first time this season, and we used it in the “indirect” heat mode. Now that might not be exciting to many, but for us and our new BBQ it required my husband to so a test run, which he did while I was at the Ortho — without being asked too!!!
In the end the pork was lovely, and my dog went crazy with temptation at the leftovers — ok, he did get a few tastes! We will enjoy the leftovers for lunch — cold!
Thank you for a wonderful new recipe to make pork exciting (I love it, my family is so.so)
Erika Pitera says
Thanks so much – I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Ossi says
I saw this recipe and imediately began to salivate. I think this is going to be on our table this evening 🙂