Apple-braised Lemon Garlic Pork, Cider Apples and Goat's Cheese Lasagna

Ah, what a Friday night dinner we had last night! Both Per and I were in an extremely good mood, and were *very* perky after having had an espresso before going grocery shopping. So, we felt that a good dinner was in order. I have recently gotten a recipe for Goat's Cheese Lasagna from my friend Linda, and I was aching to try that. (I adapted it just a bit, didn't have any thyme, and it needed a lot less milk than the recipe claimed.) And I happened to have a lot of pork tenderloin in the fridge.. and several apples that needed eating. So, we came up with pork tenderloin filled with garlic and lemon, apple wedges in an apple cider glaze, and the lasagna, which in addition to the goat's cheese has delicious sunblush tomatoes.

Goat's Cheese Lasagna
Serves 4 (Swedish recipe here)

100 g sunblush tomatoes
300 ml creme fraiche, the low-fat kind is perfect
100 g chevre
salt
pepper
2-3 tbsp milk
200 g fresh lasagna sheets

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Finely chop the tomatoes. Mix the chevre with the creme fraiche. Season with salt and pepper, and loosen with a little bit of milk to get a thick sauce. Add the tomatoes. Build the lasagna in a small oven-proof dish - start with sauce, and alternate with the lasagna sheets. The final layer should be sauce. Bake for 20 minutes.



Apple-braised Lemon Garlic Pork
Serves 2

400 g pork tenderloin
Finely shredded peel of one lemon
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
olive oil
200 ml apple cider

Divide the pork into two or three stubby pieces. Score the pieces - first make a deep cut but not all the way through, in the middle of each piece. Fold that out, and make two more cuts (still not all the way through) on either side of the first cut. You should end up with a fairly flat piece of pork. Season with salt on both sides. Mix the lemon peel and garlic, and rub that all over the inside of the pork. Roll the pieces back up, and secure with a toothpick.

Heat up olive oil in a sauté pan, and sear the pieces on all sides on high heat. Lower the heat to medium, pour the cider over the meat, and cover with a lid. Let it cook for about ten minutes.

Cider Apples
Serves 2

2 apples, peeled and cut into wedges
butter
500 ml apple cider

Start by reducing the cider - a lot. You should end up with about 200 ml. This will take a while. Melt some butter in a pan, and gently fry the apple wedges until golden but not too soft. When the cider is reduced, add a pat of butter and let that melt, then add the apples.

I had so many flavors going on I didn't want to add more by spicing up the apples - but if you're serving them with something else, by all means go ahead and add a little spice. I bet cinnamon or cardamom (or both!) would taste great. As it was, it was a perfect combination. The tangy cheese, the flavorful pork and the awesome freshness of the apples all came together beautifully.