Cinnamon-Dusted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fruit for an Early Autumn Dinner Party

Every year, there’s this magical little time between summer and autumn when all the fruits are ripe. With the last of summer’s blackberries and plums and the first of autumn’s pears and apples all ripe at once, I turn to my favorite, easy dinner party meal…Cinnamon Dusted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fruit. It is so simple to make, I hesitate to even call it a recipe. You’ll have it memorized in no time. And your guests are guaranteed to ooh and ahh with delight! Everyone, to whom I’ve ever served this, has loved this easy recipe. Serve it with a green salad and some crusty bread for fuss-free, autumn entertaining that will impress your guests, but requires minimal time in the kitchen.

MENU

Cinnamon Dusted Pork Tenderloin

Roasted Fruits

Garden Salad

Crusty Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For a dinner party for eight people, you will need to chop 6 pears (cored, but unpeeled), 5 apples, (peeled and cored) and 6 purple plums (unpeeled, but pit removed) into chunks, making sure the chunks are fairly equal in size so everything cooks uniformly and is done at the same time. Toss these together with 2 small packages of fresh blackberries. Spread on a large, parchment lined baking sheet.

Drizzle all the fruit with a good amount of olive oil and sprinkle with cinnamon. Toss with hands to coat thoroughly and spread evenly on baking sheet.

Take 2 or 3 center cut pork tenderloins and rinse and pat dry. Place on a platter and rub them all over with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. (It’s best to have most of a jar of cinnamon on hand to make this recipe.) Rub the cinnamon into the pork, coating completely.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and drizzle sheet with a slight coating of olive oil to prevent the pork from sticking. Place cinnamon-dusted pork tenderloins on baking sheet.

Place both pork and fruit in 350 degree oven and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until fruit is easily pierced with a fork (but not falling apart) and pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. If fruit is done first, it can be pulled out of the oven and a sheet of foil place on top (but not tucked around the edges) to keep it warm. Allow pork to rest, uncovered, at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

I hope this recipe becomes one of your go-to, early autumn dinner party recipes too! You’re guests will love it!