Spiced Pork with Celery Root Purée and Lentils

Celery Root Puree

• 2 pounds celery root (celeriac), peeled, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 5 cups whole milk
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Ground white pepper

Lentils

• 3 bacon slices, chopped
• 1/4 cup 1/8-inch cubes peeled carrots
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon butter

Pork

• 1/2 cup honey
• 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 1/2 pounds pork tenderloins
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 3/4 cup low-salt chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

preparation

For celery root puree:
Bring celery root and milk to boil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until celery root is very tender, about 20 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer celery root to processor. Add 1/2 cup hot milk. Puree until very smooth. Blend in butter and lemon juice. Season with salt and white pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For lentils:
Sauté bacon in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until crisp, about 3 minutes. Add carrots, shallots, and rosemary; sauté until shallots begin to soften, about 1 minute. Add lentils and 3 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until lentils are tender and liquid has nearly evaporated, about 35 minutes. Stir in butter. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

For pork:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk first 4 ingredients in bowl. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add pork; sauté until brown on all sides, about 6 minutes total. Brush pork with honey mixture. Transfer skillet to oven; roast pork 10 minutes. Turn pork over and brush with honey mixture. Roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 145°F, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer pork to work surface; tent with foil (temperature will increase 5 degrees).

Add broth and remaining honey mixture to same skillet. Boil over high heat until sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Strain sauce into small bowl. Return sauce to skillet. Whisk in butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Rewarm celery root puree and lentils. Cut pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place 1/2 cup celery root puree in center of each of 6 plates. Using back of spoon, make indentation in puree. Spoon 1/2 cup lentils into indentation on each plate. Arrange pork slices atop lentils and drizzle with sauce.

Helpful Reviews:

• We made this tonight and thought it was pretty good. It was a little bit of work so might not be good for a rushed evening. The changes we made to the recipe were to use a mixture of celeriac, turnips & potatoes for the puree, onions instead of shallots in the lentils and half as much cayenne pepper in the honey sauce. Next time we’ll probably try to cut out some of the butter as the lentils and sauce didn’t seem to need it.
• Really tasty. The sweetness of the pork and sauce are nicely counterbalanced by the savoury flavour of the lentils. I prefer a celeriac + potato mash (2/3 celeriac and 1/3 potato) to a plain celeriac mash which is a little too watery for my taste. I used 1 tsp not the suggested 1 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, and that was plenty.
• We altered this recipe a bit, didn’t use any of the spices for the pork. Instead we used some cumin, coriander, and rubbed it with garlic. We also added some chicken stock to the celeriac puree to thin it out a bit, it turned an okay puree into something fantastic. The lentils we cooked as is. We also made a quick pan sauce of chicken stock, honey, the pork drippings and a bit of sherry to place over the pork. Fantastic!!! All together the dish was incredible! The leftovers were even better.