Roasted Pork Loin with Goat Cheese and Spinach Pesto (A.K.A. "The Green Monster")

Ask and you will be answered. Do and you will receive.

See that up there? I came up with that by myself. Just add that to my resume, Sarah Freytag "philosopher".

Okay, maybe not that far, but I think a lot of people could use this advice.

I'll be honest, i'm tired of hearing people complain about things but never do anything about it. 

I'm too fat, I wish I could lose weight!

Well gee, eat healthy and literally go work your ass off.

I wish I could get good grades.

Maybe if you stopped wishing for stuff so much and actually studied you would get good grades.

I know, that's a bit harsh, but I've done both those things. Was it easy? No. Was it fun? Hell no. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

I'm not just talking about those two things though, i'm talking about everything in life. Nothing will ever be handed to you and nothing comes easy, but trust me it's worth it. 

Take a risk. Break the rules, within reason, and go for it! It might be scary, but if you never try and work for what you want, you won't get it.

That's one thing in life I've learned. You can ask, wish, and talk about what you want all day, but it wont happen unless you do something about it. 

Use these words of wisdom for good. Follow your dreams and work hard until you get them!

Now to talk about this recipe. This pork loin is fantastic! Hands down one of the best savory meals I've ever made. I mean, come on. It's pork on pork action with bacon and pork loin. How good is that? Not to mention the cheese and pesto, this meal will have everyone salivating.

**I warn everyone that this recipe is another one that I didn't measure. All the ratios are guesstimates, but if you're like me and never measure it will probably come out pretty good. Just taste as you go. This recipe really isn't that hard, there aren't a ton of ingredients. If you've never butterflied meat before, I suggest you look up a video. It isn't hard, it just takes practice. 

Roasted Pork Loin with Goat Cheese and Spinach Pesto

(Recipe by Sarah Eats Austin)

Ingredients

1 pork loin
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1/4 cup spinach pesto (Recipe below)
olive oil
garlic salt to taste
rosemary to taste
8 slices bacon(More or less)

Spinach Pesto

1/2 cup pine nuts
1 cup fresh spinach
1 tsp garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare your pork loin by butterflying with a knife and pounding out with a mallet. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine goat cheese, parmesan, and season with garlic salt. Mix well.
Lay out your pork loin, and gently spread out goat cheese mixture in the middle. Spread pesto over the goat cheese, and try to combine. (I didn't do this and the pesto kept leaking out when I tried to close it.)
Now this part gets tricky, you'll probably need someone to help you like I did.
Fold the pork loin together closing off the goat cheese and pesto, and begin wrapping the bacon around the loin. This will help hold it together, and of course bacon makes everything better.
Once the loin is completely wrapped lay it in a baking dish, drizzle some olive oil on it and sprinkle a little bit of garlic salt and rosemary on top.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes, cut and serve!

For the spinach pesto combine the pine nuts, garlic, and spinach in a blender. Add in about 1/4 cup olive oil and blend. Slowly add in more olive oil until it reaches the consistency of your liking, this may be more or less than the suggested 1/2 cup. Season to taste!

**Notes: Next time I will probably try mixing the pesto and goat cheese and then spreading it out over the loin, maybe that way it wont leak out so much.