Easy Roast Pork with Sauerkraut

Pennsylvania Dutch Dinner Recipes

pork loin 1 lb. bag sauerkraut salt and pepper to taste Optional 2 apples, peeled and sliced

A feast that's dead simple (and almost no work) to prepare. It's our traditional New Year's Day dinner - sauerkraut for good luck! This has got to be about the easiest "big dinner" recipe ever. Just dump the sauerkraut in the pan, so no worries about anything burning to the bottom of the pan. (Plus pork loins usually go on sale this time of year - $1.69/lb. the other day. Of course, it's an enormous piece of meat, so I'll just chop off what we need and freeze the rest.) No marinades, no basting; the sauerkraut keeps the pork flavorful and moist. And it's really impressive because it's a big honkin' piece of meat. Just make sure to give yourself enough time to let it roast. Select a roasting pan large enough for your pork loin to lay flat. Line the bottom of the roasting pan with sauerkraut. (Bagged sauerkraut is preferable to canned, I think, as sometimes canned will pick up a metallic taste.) Lay the pork on the bed of sauerkraut. Sprinkle with salt and pepper or your favorite spice blend or seasoned salt. Arrange apple slices on top, if you're using them. Roast in 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes per pound or until internal temperature measures 170°F, the safe temperature for cooked pork. Serve with mashed potatoes, applesauce, and wilted lettuce with bacon dressing for a real Pennsylvania Dutch Feast. My mom always used to add a grated potato to the sauerkraut, but I never really understood why. You can never taste the potato in the final sauerkraut...and you serve it with mashed potatoes, so why peel an extra potato?

Submitted by Gretchen Grant
Contributed on: Wednesday January 25th, 2006 and modified on Friday January 11th, 2008