What I used
For this roast, I used cooked Thanksgiving stuffing I had saved in the freezer and thawed. You do not need that particular stuffing—or a holiday’s worth of leftovers—to make this. Use a cooked filling you like, with enough structure to stay inside the roll.
What to do
The method
- 01
Heat the oven.
Heat the oven to 350°F. Set a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat when the roast is nearly ready.
- 02
Open the pork.
Working slowly with a sharp knife, butterfly the loin into a broad, mostly even sheet. Cover it with plastic and pound the thicker areas until the pork will roll without fighting you.
- 03
Season the inside.
Season the opened pork with salt and coarse pepper. The filling adds flavor, but the meat still needs seasoning of its own.
- 04
Add the stuffing.
Spread the cooked stuffing across the pork, leaving a margin around the edges. Use enough for a generous spiral without making the roast impossible to close.
- 05
Roll and tie.
Roll the pork snugly around the filling. Tie it in several places with butcher's twine. The goal is a roast that holds together, not decorative knots.
- 06
Sear every useful side.
Add a thin film of oil to the hot skillet. Brown the roast for about 2 minutes per side, turning as needed. Let color—not the clock—tell you when to turn.
- 07
Probe and roast.
Insert an oven-safe probe into the thickest section of pork, avoiding the stuffing. Move the entire skillet directly into the 350°F oven.
- 08
Start checking early.
Set the alarm below the final temperature so it calls you back to the kitchen. Check several places with an instant-read thermometer, including the center of the stuffing.
- 09
Rest, verify, and slice.
Move the roast to a clean board and rest it for at least 3 minutes. The pork must reach 145°F; reheated stuffing should reach 165°F. Remove the twine and slice across the spiral.
The useful parts
Enough structure to begin. Enough room to cook.
What matters
An even-enough layer of pork, a roll that stays together, and separate temperature checks for meat and filling.