This simple sheet pan pork recipe with fennel and apples offers a delightful option for a quick weeknight dinner. Ananda Eidelstein, a seasoned food writer and recipe developer, brings out the best in this dish with her extensive culinary skills. Cooking the pork tenderloin in the oven is an easy, hands-off method that guarantees juicy medallions without much preparation time. Due to the tenderloin’s long and thin nature, it requires only about twenty minutes of cooking, allowing for a prompt dinner served completely in one pan.
In this particular recipe, the pork is roasted alongside apples and fennel, topped with a fragrant honey-mustard glaze infused with orange zest and thyme. The thyme ensures the flavors are more complex than they appear. Initially, the ingredients are roasted to begin the process, followed by broiling to add a golden-brown finish, sealing the glaze perfectly. For the best resistant-to-baking apples, Honeycrisp can effectively retain their shape, though Jonagold or Pink Lady apples can serve as substitutes. This exquisite recipe is a creation by Pam Lolley.
The following ingredients are needed: 1 ¼ pound pork tenderloin, 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil (divided), 1 teaspoon kosher salt (divided), ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (divided), 2 bulbs fennel (sliced ¼ inch thick, fronds reserved), and 2 sweet-tart apples (such as Honeycrisp) sliced ½ inch thick. Whisk together 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon orange zest plus fresh juice from one orange, and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme.
Preheat the oven to 450°F placing the rack in the upper third. Rub the pork with ½ tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper, then place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss fennel and apples with the remaining tablespoon of oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper, arranging them around the pork. Brush the whisked honey-mustard mixture over the prepared ingredients. Roast for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to broil and continue broiling until the pork is browned on top, and a thermometer reads 145°F in the thickest section, roughly 5 more minutes. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing and topping with fennel fronds.
One-Pan Pork Tenderloin With Fennel and Apples
