Balsamic pork with sage and apples

Pork, sage and apples are a combination made in heaven and the sticky glaze provided by balsamic vinegar and honey takes it to the next level.

Credit: Donal's Meals in Minutes

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

A prepared pack of spring greens provides the veggie offering but if you’d prefer to use one less pan, simply wilt baby spinach leaves in with the pork towards the end of the cooking time.

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsp butter
• Pinch of caster sugar
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 600 g pork tenderloin fillet, sliced into 1.5 cm thick medallions
• 10 sage leaves, half of them finely shredded
• 100 ml balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) runny honey
• 300 g spring greens
• 250 g packet of ready-cooked puy lentils (or use home-cooked lentils)

Instructions

1. Melt a knob of butter in a sauté pan with a pinch of sugar. Add the apple wedges and cook over a medium heat until golden – this should take about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. While the apples cook, place a frying pan over a medium–high heat, add the oil and another knob of butter. Season the pork medallions and add them to the pan with the whole sage leaves. Once the sage leaves have crisped remove them from the pan.

3. Continue to brown the pork medallions on both sides then add the balsamic vinegar and honey to the pan with the shredded sage leaves. Bubble gently for 5–6 minutes until the pork is just cooked and the balsamic vinegar has reduced down and turned sticky and sweet.

4. Meanwhile, blanch the greens in boiling water then drain and toss them with a little butter and plenty of black pepper.

5. Add the lentils to the pork pan and cook them for a minute or 2 until piping hot, turning to coat everything in the juices. Serve with the apples and greens and scatter with the crispy sage leaves.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

A prepared pack of spring greens provides the veggie offering but if you’d prefer to use one less pan, simply wilt baby spinach leaves in with the pork towards the end of the cooking time.