Photo courtesy of the Pork Board (this version uses pears…I used Granny Smith apples and it was delicious!)

It’s week three of my healthy pork challenge in the kitchen and this week’s featured cut of meat on sale at your neighborhood Publix is pork roast. If you can’t find just the right cut of meat, be sure to ask your local Publix butcher to help you out. They’ll be happy to oblige. (Like mine!)

I’ve never prepared a pork roast before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. This cut of meat takes a bit of time to cook so it’s good for a weekend night when you aren’t in a rush. It would be great for a special Valentine’s Day dinner next week. I served ours with rice and a spinach salad. This smells amazing cooking!

And now for the recipe of the week…

Pork Roast with Sweet Potatoes, Granny Smith Apples And Rosemary
Recipe from PorkBeInspired.com

I loved that the prep time was minimal, and although the official recipe says 15 minutes, it probably took me 5 minutes to get the roast oven ready. You peel and slice the sweet potatoes and fruit while it’s cooking which is helpful as prep time is broken into stages.

Ingredients
3 1/2 pound bone-in pork center loin roast, excess fat trimmed to thin layer
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped, plus more for serving
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 pounds (6 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled, and cut lengthwise into sixths (Busy mom tip…our neighborhood Publix sells prewashed sweet potatoes in a bag and I grabbed these to save time)
3 Granny Smith apples cored and sliced (you may also use pears but I had Granny Smith apples on hand)
1 12-oz bottle hard cider (or substitute with apple cider)...I used Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Hard Cider

Cooking Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Rub pork all over with oil. Mix rosemary, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Rub all over pork.

Place pork, bone side down, in large flameproof roasting pan. Roast 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Roast 15 minutes more. Add sweet potatoes and pears to pan, stir gently to coat with pan juices, and spread as evenly as possible around roast. Season with salt and pepper. Roast, occasionally stirring sweet potato mixture, until instant-read food thermometer inserted in center of roast reads 145 degrees F and the potatoes and pears are tender, about 1 hour more. Transfer pork to carving board. Transfer sweet potato mixture to ovenproof bowl, tent with aluminum foil, and keep warm in turned-off oven. (If needed, increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and continue roasting sweet potato mixture until tender, up to 15 minutes longer.) Let pork stand for 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat roasting pan over high heat. Add cider, bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits in pan with wooden spoon, and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour into sauceboat.

Carve pork. Transfer to serving platter, surround with sweet potato mixture, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of cider sauce, and sprinkle with rosemary. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.

This was DELICIOUS! The sweet potatoes and the Granny Smith apples together were amazing.

Follow along with all the other Good And Good For You bloggers on Twitter with the hashtag #Publix4Pork. You can also join the challenge on the official Pork Be Inspired Facebook page.

Next week I’ll be featuring the final recipe I’ve tested out in our kitchen with the pork cut of the week on sale at Publix, pork cutlets. You’ll also have a chance to win a great giveaway that includes $40 worth of pork coupons along with some other goodies, such as a meat thermometer and a reusable shopping bag.

Have you ever cooked a pork roast? Let me know your favorite way to prepare it. It’s also delicious grilled!

Disclosure: I am working with the National Pork Board, Publix, and The Motherhood to share with you great recipes using pork and help promote the Good and Good for You Challenge. I am being compensated for this campaign and also received coupons and a gift card to Publix to help facilitate these recipe reviews, but all opinions expressed on my blog are always my own.