Spiced pork medallions with pomegranate jewelled cauliflower ‘couscous’

Don’t you love it when a meal is quick to prepare, tastes fantastic and looks great too? My easy, flavour-packed spiced pork medallions with pomegranate jewelled cauliflower ‘couscous’ definitely fits the bill.

The hero of the dish is a set of gorgeous pork medallions. They’re super easy to cook and wonderfully healthy as they’re naturally lean and high in protein. They’re super versatile, suited to all sorts of meals from Sunday roasts to Tuesday Tacos to in-a-hurry family meals. They have a lovely mild flavour that holds flavour perfectly, which makes them ideal to partner with a quick, spicy marinade.

I chose a simple Moroccan-style marinade that takes seconds to bring together. And since we’re using such healthy cuts, I’ve paired the medallions with a fun, low calorie take on couscous made with blitzed cauliflower and lifted up with fresh herbs, balsamic and pomegranate seeds. It’s full of flavour and just a little bit fruity which is something pork pairs with tremendously well.

Here’s how to make it.

Ingredients

For the spiced pork

• 8 thin cut pork medallions
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1  tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 vegetable oil

For the ‘cauliflower ‘couscous’

• 1 medium (1kg / 35 oz) cauliflower, floreted
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• pinch salt and pepper
• 150g (5 oz) pomegranate seeds
• 10g (0.3 oz) fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

For the marinade

Put all ingredients in a bowl, mix well.

Add the pork medallions and mix well, then cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour and up to eight hours.

For the cauliflower ‘couscous’

While the pork is marinating make the couscous by tipping the florets into a food processor and blitz until fine. You may need to do this in batches if your food processor is small.

Put the cauliflower into a dry frying pan and remove any lumps. Put the pan over a medium-low heat and dry fry for 10 minutes until excess water is gone and the cauliflower appears to have reduced in volume. Keep an eye on it and keep stirring, as it can burn easily once the moisture starts to escape. Turn off the heat.

Add the oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and stir through.

Stir in the pomegranate seeds, cover the pan and set aside.

To cook the pork

Heat a frying pan to a medium high heat and fry the medallions for 3-4 minutes until the juice runs clear when poked and only a tiny bit of pinkness remains. If you have a meat thermometer, aim for a temperature of 150C in the centre of the meat.

Place on a board to rest for five minutes.

To finish

Stir the coriander into the couscous.

Serve!

Fancy trying it? Let me know if you do!

Here’s the spiced pork medallions with pomegranate jewelled cauliflower ‘couscous’ recipe in printable form.

Spiced pork medallions with pomegranate jewelled cauliflower 'couscous'

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Emily Leary

Beautifully lean pork medallions richly spiced and served with a fruity, delicious cauliflower 'couscous'.

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Metric - Ounces

Ingredients

For the spiced pork

• 8 thin cut pork medallions
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 vegetable oilFor the 'cauliflower 'couscous'
• 1 medium 1kg / 35 oz cauliflower, floreted
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• pinch salt and pepper
• 150 g 5 oz pomegranate seeds
• 10 g 0.3 oz fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

For the marinade

• Put all ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
• Add the pork medallions and mix well, then cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour and up to eight hours.

For the cauliflower "couscous"

• While the pork is marinating make the couscous by tipping the florets into a food processor and blitz until fine. You may need to do this in batches if your food processor is small.
• Put the cauliflower into a dry frying pan and remove any lumps. Put the pan over a medium-low heat and dry fry for 10 minutes until excess water is gone and the cauliflower appears to have reduced in volume. Keep an eye on it and keep stirring, as it can burn easily once the moisture starts to escape. Turn off the heat.
• Add the oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and stir through.
• Stir in the pomegranate seeds, cover the pan and set aside.

To cook the pork

• Heat a frying pan to a medium high heat and fry the medallions for 3-4 minutes until the juice runs clear when poked and only a tiny bit of pinkness remains. If you have a meat thermometer, aim for a temperature of 150C in the centre of the meat.
• Place on a board to rest for five minutes.To finish
• Stir the coriander into the couscous and serve.

* Note: nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published.

Course: Casseroles, savoury bakes and one-pot meals

Keywords: couscous, pork

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For further recipe inspiration visit www.lovepork.co.uk and share your recipe ideas!

Looking for another way to use cauliflower? Try my eggs and cauliflower ‘steak’ recipe.

This is a commissioned post for the Love Pork.