Preparation time
over 2 hours
Cooking time
1 to 2 hours
Serves
Serves 4
Dietary
Vegetarian

From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the marinated pork fillet
- 6 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 orange, juice only
- 1 pinch red chilli powder
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- pinch ground allspice
- pinch sumac
- 1 pork fillet
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the fennel confit
- olive oil, for cooking
- 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
To serve
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 75g/2½oz pomegranate seeds
- pinch black pepper
Method
To make the marinated pork fillet, combine the pomegranate molasses, orange juice, chilli powder, garlic, tomato purée, allspice and sumac in a bowl. Put the pork fillet in a shallow dish and massage half of the marinade in on all sides using your hands. Clean your hands, cover the dish and place in the fridge for a few hours to marinate.
To make the fennel confit, heat a generous splash of olive oil in a pan, add the fennel, garlic, onion and bay leaf. Put the lid on and cook over a low heat for at least 1 hour, or until everything is meltingly soft but without colour. Keep warm.
To finish the marinated pork fillet, preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Heat an ovenproof pan to hot, add the pork and cook until browned all over. Transfer the pork to the oven and roast for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover and leave to rest in a warm place.
Bring the remaining marinade to the boil in a small pan and add a splash of water to loosen slightly. Add the olive oil, whisk together and then stir in the pomegranate seeds and black pepper. Add salt to taste.
To serve, slice the pork and drain the fennel confit. Spoon some fennel confit onto a serving dish, spoon over some of the pomegranate dressing and add the sliced pork.