3 Little Italian Pigs

Filetto di Maiale alla Pizzaiola

Pork Tenderloin "Pizzaiola"

It's always the same when you live on your own- sometimes you have to buy more than you actually need of some things, just to make them worth buying... and such was the case with the pork tenderloin I used here... which was left over from the pork tenderloin dish I prepared yesterday!

So here I was, faced with the task of doing something different this evening... which of course was easy! There is always something different you can do with your food than the same-old same-old... just open you mind... open your fridge- and have some fun!


I have to admit, I was never a great fan of the "pizzaiola" method of preparing meat- meaning giving it a similar topping to a pizza baking it in the oven... and of course you know why without asking- because of the cheese! I am just not a fan of having lots of melted cheese on my food- it is fine for everyone else- but for me, it just becomes overwhelming and fatty and all kinds of bad things- haha! Let me rant a little... it will soon be over!

So of course when I prepared these little beauties this evening, I went light on the cheese and tried to only use as much as was necessary to melt and hold all of the other topping ingredients in place! But as I said- feel free to use lots of cheese when you try this out... just don't tell me you did!

This is a very simple version of a classic Italian dish and I made it like this. I quickly fried the pork tenderloin slices for 1-2 minutes on each side in a very hot pan, with a little olive oil, some crushed garlic, sea salt, pepper and a little oregano. Once they were lightly browned on each side I removed them from the pan.

I then added some halved cherry tomatoes, finely slice red and green olives, finely chopped garlic and Spring onion, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper and again a little oregano. I fried them together for 2-3 minutes and then deglazed the frying pan with a splash of white wine.

I pushed the tomato, olive and onion mixture to one side, returned the pork slices to the pan and then spooned it evenly over the top. I added a little mozzarella cheese, torn into little pieces and placed sparingly in-between the topping and then popped the frying pan under the broiler for a further 2-3 minutes, until the cheese melted and became golden brown. I sprinkled the pork slices with a little fresh thyme and served them up immediately with some fresh basil... delicious! A lice of ciabatta and a glass of chilled white wine- and what more could you want? With something a delicious as this- the only thing would be... to share! ;-) Enjoy!