Bacon Wrapped and Stuffed Pork

  This dish literally started off as a joke.  My friend and were talking about how bacon would be really good in dish we were eating.  But bacon makes everything better!  Bacon is a miracle food that everyone loves.  So much so that even vegetarians pretend to eat.  (I do NOT recommend soy bacon aka Fakon.....)  With a couple drinks in us, we started formulating bacon wrapped ravioli, which turned into bacon stuffed ravioli, then bacon stuffed chicken, and finally concluded with bacon stuffed chicken that is then wrapped in bacon.  I knew I had to make it for the sheer ridiculousness of the idea.

   When it came time to cook, we had a pork tenderloin that needed to be used, but the same thing could be done with chicken, no problem.  I think I like the idea of pork for this dish better than chicken though because it is porcine explosion worthy of Emeril Lagasse or Michael Symon.

Note:  We did not have as much bacon as I thought when I made this dish, so there should be more bacon wrapped around the tenderloin.  Also, don't mess this up with cheap bacon.  Get some nice meaty stuff!  And a butcher should be able to butterfly the tenderloin for you if you can't/don't want to do it yourself.

Bacon Wrapped and Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
1 lb pork tenderloin, butterflied
7-8 slices bacon
5 oz frozen chopped spinach (thawed and excess water squeezed out)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
salt and pepper

   Lightly pound butterflied tenderloin if it is not already even in thickness.  Salt and pepper both sides.
   Chop and render 4 of the bacon slices over medium heat until crispy.  Quickly stir in garlic making sure not to burn it.  Toss in spinach.  Spread mixture over the pork.  Roll up pork.  Wrap with 3-4 slices of bacon.  Try to get the ends of the bacon to meet where the seam of the pork roll is.  Secure with toothpicks.
   Sear pork evenly on all sides.  (In a little bit of oil, if needed.)  Place pork on a roasting rack in a pan.
   Bake at 400 deg F for 25-35 min, turning over half way through cooking.  (Time is dependent on thickness of roll... 25-30 min is a good starting point.  Mine took exactly 30 min and was perfect!)
   Serves 4.  Roasted butternut squash soup is a great side for this.