DESCRIPTION
A simple seasoning paste takes a basic pork loin roast from simple to spectacular!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup fresh rosemary leaves
- 8 cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper (use lemon pepper if you have it)
- 1 (2 and 1/2 to 3 lb.) boneless pork loin roast
- About 3 ribs celery (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Zest, then juice the lemon. In a food processor, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pulse until it becomes a coarse, wet paste. Spread the paste all over the pork.
- Put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan fat side up. If you don’t have a rack use about 3 stalks of celery arranged in the pan.
- Roast until the internal temperature is 145-160°F, 20 to 25 minutes per pound. 145°F is considered safe for pork according to the USDA. It will be moist and slightly pink in the center. If you prefer your pork fully white and well done, then go with the 160°F temperature.
- Cover the roasting pan with foil and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, increase the oven to 475°F.
- Roast uncovered for another 10 minutes, until the meat is nicely browned. (If any parts of the pork are already nicely browned, cover them with a piece of foil before the final roast.)
- Slice the roast and serve immediately.
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Notes
- For even more flavorful meat, brine the pork before you roast it. But if you do, cut the salt in this recipe to a little more than 1/2 teaspoon. See this post for how to brine and why it makes such a difference.