Apricot Pork Roast

This recipe came to us from the newsletter of a retreat center Karen has attended in the past, only originally written for chicken breasts and with a much sweeter sauce.  So I set to work making some adjustments to suit our own less-sweet-loving palates, and to convert it over to work with a boneless butt pork roast we had in the freezer.  The results were downright incredible.

Gather Up:

• 4lb boneless butt pork roast
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp Herbs de Provence
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup stone-ground prepared mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup dried apricots, minced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, minced
• 1 cup chicken stock (the frozen cubes in the bowl)
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 1 cup Pinot Gris (or other dry white wine)
• 2 tbsp pastured butter

Place the pork roast in an 8×8 baking pan.  In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the wine and the butter.  Mix them well, then pour over top of the roast.  Use a fork to lift the roast a little to ensure the mixture gets underneath as well, then cover tightly with foil and place in the refrigerator for about 8 to 10 hours to marinate (over night would work too).  Turn it once sometime about half-way through marinating.

Following the marinating time, transfer the roast to a 13×9 pan.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees – convection if you have it.  Pour the liquid from the marinade into the pan, then spoon the chunks of raisin and apricot over top of the roast.  Dot the butter over the top, and pour the wine over top as well (being careful not to wash the solids and butter off the top).  Poke a meat thermometer into the end of the roast so it is reading the middle – or use a meat probe if you have one for your oven.

Roast until you hit an internal temperature of 145 degrees on the roast – about 1-1/2 hours.  If you are concerned with the crust on top browning too much (we weren’t), you can tent with foil when before it blackens.  The juices in the pan will thicken considerably into a sauce as it cooks.

Remove from the oven and let stand for another 5 minutes.  Transfer the sauce from the pan to a serving bowl.  Move the roast to a cutting board and slice across in roughly 3/8″ thick slices.  Serve warm with some of the apricot sauce on top, and a savory dish along side to offset the sweetness.  Dig in!