Fig And Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 (1 lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed and butterflied
1/2 cup dried fig, coarsely chopped (like Sun-Maid)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
cooking spray
1 tablespoon apple jelly, melted

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450\u00b0F.
Butterfly the pork by slicing it in half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, the other side. Open the halves (like a book), laying pork flat.
Place pork between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Sprinkle the figs and blue cheese over the pork, leaving about a 1/2-inch margin around the outside edges. Roll up the pork lengthwise, like a jelly-roll. (I tucked in the sides prior to rolling to keep stuffing in, but this is optional.) Secure at 2-inch intervals with twine. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper, and place on a foil-lined pan coated with cooking spray.
The original recipe called for baking it at 450\u00b0F for 20 minutes, however, I've found the tenderloin to still be raw in some areas, so I've adjusted the pre-jelly cooking time to about 25-30 minutes. Use a thermometer to gauge.
Remove the pork from the oven and brush with the melted apple jelly. Return the pork to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the thermometer reads 160\u00b0F (slightly pink). Keep an eye on the pork if cooking for longer than the additional 5 minutes because I've found the apple jelly that melts onto the pan will begin to burn.
Remove the pork from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes. Remove the twine and cut the pork into 1 inch slices, or to the thickness of your liking.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 1-inch slices).