Some days you want to go over the top and have a FEAST. This is one of those days. Spanish spiced grilled pork tenderloin, peaches, and radicchio are an amazing meal already. Add in romesco sauce, marinated manchego, mixed olives, and fresh orange wedges to squeeze over it all, and you have a meal perfect for when you want to pull out the stops and go for it.
Hey, how’s your summer going? We are having excellent weather here in New England! The sort of weather where you can keep the windows open, but you also want to visit the pool in the afternoon. Just lovely.
Perfect weather for grilling and perfect for our family’s Fourth of July cookout! We spent the past few days in the Berkshires (western Massachusetts for all you who are far away from here), visiting my parents. It was great seeing everybody and lots of fun cooking all sorts of yummy outdoor food.
And, after eating and visiting, we packed up the car and drove home to enjoy the fireworks. We have some great fireworks just a couple of towns over which we go to every year. The only time we’ve missed them in the past several years was when we got our dog, Ginny, five years ago. Not only had she just joined the family a few days before, but she managed to chew up a toy and have some issues. That night we skipped the fireworks and instead sat nervously by the phone waiting to hear from the emergency vet. This year was much better. 🙂
Lots of fireworks, healthy pets, and cotton candy for the daughter.
Even though the Fourth is over, there are still lots opportunities for cookouts and entertaining this summer! And I have an amazing platter to share with you today.
Last year I developed an herb marinated grilled pork tenderloin with grilled apples for your fall grilling needs, and ever since then I’ve grilling up tenderloins All. The. Time. They are lean, simple to cook, so tender, and easy on the wallet.
What’s not to love?
So, when I was thinking about doing some Spanish flavors on the grill, my mind turned right to pork tenderloin. A trip to the store and a spice rub later and we were happily eating some Spanish grilled tenderloin along with a salad.
That would have been a fine recipe to share, but then I thought ‘what if I use this recipe as the base for a whole meal with all sorts of flavors???’ I had been wanting to do something over-the-top and complicated. I originally conceived this meal as bowl, like my Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad bowl, but a platter seemed more fun this time around. Maybe more summery? Bowls do seem a bit cozier as a concept.
However, you can definitely see where my thoughts were as I came up with the whole recipe. We have a leafy vegetable, some fruit, a protein, some creamy cheese, salty elements, a sauce, lots of color, and lots of flavor. This is everything I try to hit when I make bowl. Conceiving meals as bowls is not a bad way to come up with a meal which hits every element and packs all sorts of flavor while also being pretty to look at.
And, of course, you can totally eat this in a bowl. 🙂
In fact, I would highly recommend getting all these flavors together and mixing them up! I chose each element to compliment each of the other elements. The sweet and juicy peaches with the meaty spiced tenderloin with the bitter and caramelized radicchio are so great together. I’m getting hungry again just remembering it!
Then you have the marinated manchego, some marinated olives, and the sauce to bring it all together. If you haven’t had Romesco Sauce, you have been missing out. Now is your chance! The romesco sauce over it all is amazing! It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s awesomely good. Go make some! 🙂
All this and you don’t have to heat up your kitchen at all. Everything is cooked on the grill. (Okay, you do have to make toast for the sauce, but I think you can handle that!) You can’t beat that for summer entertaining. Or for a Saturday night dinner. Yes, I would and have made dinners like this just for us on a Saturday night. So, what are you waiting for? Saturday night will be here soon.
– Happy Grilling, Annemarie
This grilled pork tenderloin peaches and radicchio platter is full of great Spanish flavors and fun additions to make this an excellent meal for a special occasion. Or for next Saturday night!
- 1 1/4 lb pork tenderloin, or two smaller tenderloins
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- olive oil
- 4 peaches, quartered
- 2 heads radicchio, quartered
- olive oil
- 1 navel orange, sliced into wedges
- marinated manchego tapas
- marinated olives
- romesco sauce
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Preheat the grill until hot.
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Trim the pork tenderloin to remove all the silverskin on the outside. Then mix together the rub ingredients, adding enough olive oil to make a thick paste, and rub it over the pork.
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Grill the pork uncovered for 3 minutes on high. Turn it over and grill it for 3 minutes more. Close the grill, reduce the heat to medium and grill for 10 minutes, or until it reaches 150F. For the smaller tenderloins check the pork at about 8 minutes.
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Tent some foil over the pork and let it rest while you make the vegetables.
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Return the grill to high and let it heat back up.
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Brush the peaches and radicchio with olive oil. Grill, turning every couple of minutes, until the peaches are a little soft and have good grill marks and the radicchio is well browned on its cut sides.
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See the recipes for all the extras - marinated manchego, marinated olives, romesco sauce. All can be made a day or two before, and the marinated recipes need to be made ahead.
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Slice the pork tenderloin 1/2 inch thick and arrange down the middle of the platter. Put the peaches on one side and the radicchio on the other. Scatter the orange slices around. You can keep the marinated manchego and olives in bowls or scatter them over the top. Have the romesco sauce in a bowl for people to add to their plates.
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When serving, squeeze some of the orange over your plate, then drizzle it with some of the marinating oil from the manchego, and finally top with the romesco sauce.
- Calorie info is, as always a rough estimate. Calories are also only for the pork and grilled fruits/vegetables. Not for the extras.
- Make all the extras before you turn on the grill! The olives and manchego need to be made the night before and the romesco can be made that evening, but it's best to get it done before you are dealing with the rest of dinner.
- When quartering the radicchio, leave the cores intact. The core will keep the leaves together as they cook.
- To cut the peaches (or nectarines), cut them around the equator first and then twist them apart. Peaches release much easier in that direction. Once you have the two halves, slice each in half again and then twist the remaining pieces off the pit.
- Links to the extras:
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This looks and sounds amazing! I don’t normally mix fruits with meat but I might try grilling peaches when I get the chance. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Years ago I thought that mixing fruits and meats was weird so I didn’t do it. These days I realize it may be weird, but it’s tasty so I do it all time. 🙂 I hope you give it a try.