Pork Meatloaf With Dried Apricots. Step-by-step Recipe With Photo

Thinking about the main dishes for the festive table? Include in your menu an unusual, spectacular and tasty dish, which is also easy to prepare - pork meatloaf with dried apricots. Does the combination of meat and dried fruit surprise you? Try it! Sunny, tender, slightly sweet dried apricots go well with baked meat. And such a roll looks very elegant.

The baked roll with dried apricots can be made from chicken, pork, beef. For a festive table, cooking chicken seems to be boring, while beef is tougher and drier than pork. Therefore, it is best to choose a slice of pork with a little fat.

Similarly, you can make a meatloaf in foil with prunes - you get a different, no less appetizing taste and a beautiful look.

• Cooking time: 2 hours
• Number of Servings: 10-12

Ingredients for pork meatloaf with dried apricots

• 0.7-1 kg of pork;
• 100 g dried apricots;
• 0.5-1 tsp salt;
• ground black pepper;
• 1 tbsp. water;
• fresh herbs for decoration.

This time I was preparing a roll of pork balyk (lumbar and dorsal parts of a pig carcass). It is convenient to cut a rounded piece of meat without a bone so that a long layer is obtained, which we then roll into a roll. But a simpler option is also quite possible - take a few pieces of meat, as for chops, spread them side by side a little overlap and also roll them up.

In addition to the basic spices - salt and pepper - you can add other seasonings for meat that you like: basil, paprika, dried ginger.

Method for preparing pork meatloaf with dried apricots

Wash dried apricots and fill them with water for 5-7 minutes. Not with boiling water - otherwise there will be little useful in dried fruits, but just very warm boiled water - 70-80 ° С. After standing, the dried apricots will become soft. Do not pour out the water - it tastes like apricot compote.

Rinse the meat and dry it with paper towels. Then carefully cut the balyk in a spiral to make a long strip. Salt, pepper, sprinkle with spices.

Lay dried apricots on top of the meat in several rows, as shown in the photo.

And roll up the roll as tightly as possible. It is very convenient to additionally fix it with such heat-resistant silicone laces for rolls. Or just wrap the meat tightly in foil. If the foil is thin, then in a double layer. When baking in foil, place the shiny side outward and the matte side inward.

Put the roll into a heat-resistant dish or frying pan, pour 1-1.5 cm of water on the bottom and put it in the oven, preheated to 180-200 ° C, to the middle level. We bake for 1.5 to 2 hours - taking into account the size of the roll and the characteristics of your oven. Periodically pour water into the mold as it boils away. If the mold is glass or ceramic, do not pour cold water - otherwise the dishes may crack - but hot.

To check if the roll is ready, carefully, using thick tacks, take out the form. We unfold the foil and taste the meat with a knife: is it soft? If not, then you need to continue baking. If the roll is soft and the broth is transparent, then the roll is ready. To slightly brown the top, you can return the roll to the oven for 10 minutes without covering the foil.

After letting the roll cool completely, cut it with a sharp knife into slices 5-6 mm thick and lay it out beautifully on a plate. Decorate with dried apricots and fresh herbs - sprigs of cockerel, dill, basil.

We serve pork meatloaf with dried apricots as an appetizer or with hot dishes.