Breaded Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Cherry Tomato Sauce

Are you looking for an impressive meat dish that looks like you've slaved away for hours?  A dish that even your pickiest of eaters will take one bite of and look at you with love and utter fascination at the bounty that you've made with your awesome culinary ingenuity??

Ya, me too. 

Until that utopian scene occurs there's this recipe that was a hit with four out of five Bookworm abode inhabitants.  There's always one in the bunch, amIright?  By the end of the meal the one holdout claimed the pork was "Just okay." "Wellll, my wee food critic, it's my lucky day then because I was only aiming for a meal that was 'barely okay and marginally edible' so I guess I hit this one out of the park!!"

(Note: I occasionally like to serve a side of sarcasm with meals. It's the side dish that is not only satisfying for the cook but great paired with any main course.)

The rest of us quite enjoyed this meal (and the leftovers too).  The idea for this meal came to me out of the blue.  I had two pork tenderloins thawing with no idea what to make and time was ticking.  I also had some frozen Balsamic Cherry Tomato Sauce from last summer just beggin' to be used. Hmmm.  Add a crispy coating to the pork and voila!  A meal that 80% of our household will enjoy.

While there are a few steps involved with this recipe they are quite quick.  There's a lot of dipping of the pork medallions in egg, flour and bread crumbs and two cooking times but they go by fast.  Trust me.  Served with a salad and perhaps some roasted or mashed spuds this is a great, go-to meal for family and/or guests.



1 pork tenderloin (1 1/2 lb)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence (or spices you'd prefer)
Salt and Pepper
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce (I used my Balsamic Cherry Tomato Sauce)
Garnish - Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cut off any fat on the pork tenderloin.  Cut the tenderloin into 3/4-inch thick medallions.

Get out three medium bowls. 

• In the first, place the flour.
• In the second bowl, place both eggs and whisk well.
• In the third bowl, place the bread crumbs, thyme, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Using ONE HAND, take each medallion and coat it in the flour from the first bowl; tap off excess flour.  Then coat the medallion in the egg mixture (allowing excess to drip off) then coat the medallion in the bread crumb mixture.  Place on a clean plate and continue with the rest of the medallions. By using one hand to touch the messy medallions you'll keep the mess to a minimum with only one hand that look like you have cheese sticks stuck to the ends of your digits.

Preheat a large frying pan to medium heat. Add oil to the heated frying pan then place the medallions into the pan and brown on the first side.  Flip each piece of pork and brown the other side. 

Place browned pork medallions into a baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 160F.

Meanwhile, heat tomato sauce.  When serving, drizzle the tomato sauce over the medallions (or serve it on the side).  Add some grated Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese for a Pork Parmesan feel.

Source: The Baking Bookworm