Here is yet another Spanish delight that you will certainly adore. A juicy pork tenderloin with caramelised onions, or in other words solomillo encebollado in Spanish.
I make this pork dish very often at home.
And it is a true family favorite!
How is your Spanish by the way?
Can you tell me what the recipe is all about by just looking at the title?
I am sure you can!
Onions
So cebolla in Spanish means onion.
Therefore encebollado means with onions, mainly caramelised onions. And solomillo, that is Spanish for what we call a tenderloin.
Solomillo de cerdo encebollado, pork tenderloin with onions.
Tenderloin is a very tender and juicy cylindrical long piece of meat.
This cut doesn’t need a lot of cooking!
Just sear it in very hot oil on all sides so that the lovely juices inside can’t escape anymore. Then let the tenderloin gently cook on the inside for just a little more.
You can even pop it in a hot over for a couple of minutes to cook further.
Pork Tenderloin
I like my tenderloins still a little pink and juicy in the middle.
Just don’t overcook it!
Solomillo or tenderloin could be either pork or beef. If a recipe says solomillo de cerdo, then it is pork. Does it say solomillo de ternera – or buey, then that is beef.
Solomillo encebollado is another Spanish classic dish.
You will find quite a few dishes here that contain the word encebollado.
Best Solomillo Encebollado (Pork with Onions)
Here are a few other popular Spanish dishes that contain this ‘encebollado’ onion preparation.
What about a couple of fish dishes?
Bacalao encebollado, salt cod with onions and peppers. Or how about solomillo de atún encebollado, tuna with onions.
Do you like rabbit? Conejo encebollado also exists. And turkey, solomillo de pavo encebollado. But I guess that every kind of fish or meat would be lovely in combination with caramelised onions, right.
Do you love to prepare a good tenderloin dinner at home?
Then you should also take a look at another solomillo recipe of mine: solomillo al Pedro Ximenez vinegar reduction and raisins.
A recipe idea that I brought back with me after visiting Madrid!
Enjoy!
Best Solomillo Encebollado Recipe
A Spanish delight: juicy pork tenderloin with caramelized onions, or solomillo encebollado!
- 12 oz pork tenderloin (350 g)
- 1 glass red vermut or dry white wine
- 1 large onion
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 clove
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
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Peel the onion and the garlic clove. Slice them up.
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Pour some olive oil in a large non-stick pan and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced garlic, the clove and the bay leaves.
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Stir and gently fry the garlic for 3 minutes. Then add the sliced onion.
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Stir again now bake the onion and garlic under a lid until tender. This will take a while, about 35 to 45 minutes over moderate heat. Stir very regularly to prevent the onions from burning. In the end the onion should be golden brown.
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Then remove the onion from the pan (discard the bay leaves and clove) and put it on a clean plate until needed later on. Don’t wipe the pan clean but add another drop of olive oil. Place it back over high heat and add the tenderloin as soon as the oil is piping hot.
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Sear the pork on one side for a couple of minutes until brown and then turn the tenderloin over to bake it on the other side until browned. Then season the pork with a little pepper and salt. Also add the vermut or white wine.
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Turn the heat lower and put a lid on the pan. Let the pork cook for about 12 to 15 minutes until tender on the inside but still juicy and pink. Turn the pork over regularly so it cooks evenly. Then add the caramelized onions back to the pan.
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Let the onions warm through for another 3 minutes. Then remove the pork from the pan and slice up thickly. Put the sliced pork onto deep plates and top with the caramelized onions. Drizzle with the remaining sauce and serve hot.
