Pork Tenderloin Lemon Piccata Medallions

One of our favorite date nights is a stay at home date night! We put the kids to bed, turn off the television, turn on the ‘date night’ playlist and enjoy being adults. We cook a delicious meal, open a bottle of wine and catch up on each other’s week. This pork tenderloin lemon piccata medallion recipe is simple, delicious and elegant for any date night or dinner with friends.

Pork tenderloin is one of my favorite cuts of meats for date night. It is one of the seven pork cuts, also called the Slim 7, that meet USDA’s guidelines for “lean”. In fact, the pork tenderloin meets the guidelines for “extra lean.” I love pork tenderloin because it is also one of the most tender cuts of pork and it doesn’t take a lot of time to cook.

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Pork Piccata Ingredients:

1 ½ pound pork tenderloin
¼ cup flour
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 cup dry white wine
¾ cup stock
¾ heavy cream
the juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons of capers
1/2 pound angel hair pasta

Garnish: parsley, lemon wedge

Let’s get started!

Slice the pork tenderloin into 1/2 inch medallions. Tenderloin is one of the most tender cuts of pork and we love it because it is a quick cook for our date nights.

Salt and pepper both sides of the medallions.

Pound it out.

Place the medallions in a zip top bag, leave it open, and gently pound the tenderloins thin.

Keep in mind that pork tenderloins are just that, tender. Don’t put a lot of muscle behind your pounding. You are just looking for the tenderloins to be flatter than they are currently.

Seasoned flour.

Combine the flour, parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning on a plate with a fork.

Dredge

Press the pork tenderloin medallions in the flour mixture. Be sure to cover all side with flour.

Transfer to a clean plate.

Time to cook.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy bottom, wide pan over medium high heat.

Sear the medallions in the oil and flip to the second side when the first side has some lovely color on it. Remember what I always say, color equals flavor!

The National Pork Board recommends sautéing pork tenderloin medallions (of ¼ to ½ inch thickness) 4 to 8 minutes and until tender.

Remove from the pan and place on a clean plate, cover with foil.

Make the sauce

Deglaze

Deglaze the pan with a cup of dry white wine. Deglazing a pan is adding a liquid to a hot pan to help lift the delicious, caramel bits of flavor off the bottom of a pan.

Add the heavy cream. You are welcome to substitute light cream or even whole milk for the heavy cream, but I prefer the heavy cream. Trust me on this one. Please.