Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
Patti found a huge, (13lb.) extra lean pork loin on sale; we named it “porkenstein”. Ken cut it into three pieces and this is our first recipe with this hunk. The strong flavor of the blue cheese permeated the pork and the fresh spinach added color and hid a nice healthy veggie. Just for fun we used our new Big Dick’s Margarita rub giving it a pico lime flavor as they say it really was a treat for our meat. We finished it off with some Big Dick’s BBQ sauce.
Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on our Louisiana Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme. Wood Pellet Patio Heater, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…
Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
A Pellet Grill Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 75 minutes at 325 degrees (163c)
Grill: Louisiana Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker
Pellets: Pacific Pellet Apple
Ingredients: Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
- 1 4 ½ lb. boneless pork loin
- Big Dick’s Margarita rub, to taste
- Big Dick’s BBQ Sauce, to taste
Stuffing
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large bunch fresh spinach, stems removed
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 1 cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon Big Dick’s Margarita Rub
Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
A Pellet Grill Recipe
Directions: Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
Generously sprinkle all sides of pork with Big Dick’s Margarita rub. Cut a deep pocket down the length of your pork, being careful not to cut all the way through. In medium skillet add olive oil and sauté onion and spinach for about five minutes. Let cool. Blend in blue cheese and seasoning and pack stuffing into pork pocket. Grill for 75 minutes at 325 degrees (163c) looking for an internal temp around 140 degrees (60c). U.S.D.A. safe temp is 145 degrees (63c). Keep in mind that the meat will continue cooking for another 5 to 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer for checking meat temps.
Sauté Onion and Spinach
Blend in Blue Cheese and Seasoning
Carefully Cut a Pocket for the Stuffing
Stuff It
Ready for the Grill
Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
A Pellet Grill Recipe
On the Grill Grates in the Louisiana Grill/Smoker
Cooking Directions: Louisiana Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker
To prepare the grill for cooking, check your pellet supply – top off or change flavors as needed. Scrape grill grates off. Set the temperature to 450 degrees and press the “Start” button. Give the grill about 15 minutes to reach temperature and the grates to burn clean.
Note: You can set the start temperature anywhere you want. I do 450 (230c) for a quick cleaning burn. So after the grill comes up to temp and burns clean turn it back down to 325 degrees (163c).
Place everything directly onto the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke and get happy. Grill for 75 minutes at 325 degrees (163c) looking for an internal temp around 140 degrees (60c). U.S.D.A. safe temp is 145 degrees (63c). Keep in mind that the meat will continue cooking for another 5 to 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer for checking meat temps.
Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need to follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees (122c), anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.
Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
A Pellet Grill Recipe
Add BBQ Sauce the Last 30 Minutes of Your Cook
Cooking In the Oven:
We have been getting requests for recipe conversions for the Pacific Living Outdoor Oven. I tell folks all the time that cooking on a Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker is just as easy as cooking in your oven. Just about anyone can do it and do it well. Think about it. You set your control knob to the temp you want, put your meat in and leave it for a set time. It is the same thing, time and temperature is what it is all about. The Louisiana Grill is just like your oven except it uses wood pellets and has wheels.
Roast for 75 minutes at 325 degrees (163c) looking for an internal temp around 140 degrees (60c). U.S.D.A. safe temp is 145 degrees (63c). Keep in mind that the meat will continue cooking for another 5 to 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer for checking meat temps.
Note: The Pacific Living Pizza Oven also has a smoke box.
Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
A Pellet Grill Recipe
Lookin’ Good
Spinach & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork
A Pellet Grill Recipe
Let’s Eat!!!
About our Recipes
We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Louisiana, Green Mountain, Royall, Memphis, Traeger wood pellet grills, Char Griller side box smoker, Saber, Charmglow, Char-Broil, The Big Easy, Pacific Living Outdoor Oven, Lodge Sportsman’s, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles are healthy and low fat and will fit pelletheads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.
The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can even do some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.
Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….