Roast pork with pepper and fried sage

Ingredients for 4:

one rather large pork tenderloin

plenty of black and white pepper

one bunch of sage sprigs

one garlic clove

half a glass of white wine

extra virgin olive oil

salt

flour as needed

the tip of a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

cold water as needed

salt

oil for frying

Method:

Use a long-bladed knife to cut the pork tenderloin lengthways. Start about one centimetre from the base and cut through the meat until you have one large steak that you will roll into a joint.

Use a meat tenderiser to even out the thickness of the meat then sprinkle lots of black and white pepper all over the surface. Roll the meat up on the long side to make a sausage shape and then tie with kitchen string.

Add salt to the entire surface and rub it in. Turn the oven on at 220°C. While you are waiting for it to heat up, add 3-4 tablespoons of oil to an oven pan and heat it on the stove. When it is hot, add the meat and brown it on all sides. Add one unpeeled garlic clove, a few sage leaves and the white wine and cook in the oven for 25 minutes. If the tenderloin isn’t very big, reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes.

When it is ready, leave it to cool and then cut into thick slices before removing the string. Then remove all the string. Leave the roast tenderloin in a warm place while you prepare the sage leaves.

Make some creamy batter by mixing the cold water, the bicarbonate of soda and the flour, a little at a time, until you have reached the right consistency. Wash the sage leaves, dry them and dip them in the batter.

Remove any excess batter, heat up a sufficient quantity of oil and fry the sage leaves. When ready, place the leaves on absorbent pepper, adjust the salt and serve with the meat.