Friday Night Feast

We had an out of the ordinary week. My husband got into a car accident which, for the record, was not his fault (he's fine, thank goodness...the car is not so fine). I got suddenly sick and had to take the morning off of work on Thursday (I'm fine now, too).

By the time we both got home and settled tonight, we were worn out. We watched our DVR'd shows from Thursday (The Office and 30 Rock) and then I figured I might as well attempt dinner since we didn't have the money or energy to eat out. My meal plan from earlier in the week got pushed back a day due to the craziness that was the car accident and illness, so I still hadn't made the pork tenderloin I had thawed. I'm glad I got off my butt, because dinner couldn't have been simpler and we enjoyed a nice Friday night feast.

I must be some sort of idiot. I kind of thought that the pork tenderloin seemed a bit on the huge side and thought twice about buying it because it was pricey due to its weight. I decided to get it anyway because it was on sale and stuck it in the freezer. Meanwhile, I open the package today after thawing it and out pops two pork tenderloins. I didn't know they packaged them in pairs. I've been avoiding buying them at Giant all this time because I thought they were tenderloins from some mutant pigs because they were so big. Now I know...

Herb Pesto Pork Tenderloin

• 1 pork tenderloin (or 2*)
• 1 bunch fresh sage leaves (about a cup)
  
• 1 small bunch of Italian parsley (about a cup)
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (lightly toasted in a dry pan)
• Salt and Pepper
• Red potatoes, washed and cut into even sized pieces
  

1. Combine sage leaves, parsley, olive oil, garlic cloves, pine nuts, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender until smooth (creating a pesto).
   
2. Clean the pork tenderloin and remove the silver skin. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet and brown each side of the tenderloin for a minute or two. (you can skip this step, if you want...but I like to brown meat before roasting it to lock in the juices).
   
3. Transfer pork tenderloin to a roasting pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Spread the pesto all over the top of the tenderloin.
   
4. Toss the potatoes in a bowl with some olive oil, salt, and pepper** Scatter around the pork tenderloin in the roasting pan.
5. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes until cooked through (some like it a little rosy in the center, some like it completely done). Let it rest for 10 minutes and then slice and serve.

*Because I ended up having two pork tenderloins, I went ahead and cooked both. We are going to chop up the other one and add to salad or rice tomorrow. This is a great strategy...use left overs to your advantage!
**I added some Mrs. Dash Italian seasoning for extra flavor

Recipe loosely based on one from Robin Miller...I modified it by adding parsley, instead of using only sage, and using pork tenderloin instead of turkey tenderloin.