Fig Glazed Pork Tenderloin and Smoked Gouda Flatbread

A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine was talking about a baked brie and fig preserve appetizer she had prepared and how much they loved it.  I have never really cared for brie but it seems like something that adults should like - especially adults who write about food and recipes.  I was actually embarrassed to tell this dear friend that I don't care for brie because I recently had to explain to this same friend why I don't like goat cheese and while she looked on in an understanding fashion, I could tell that inside she was wondering how many food hangups one person could possibly have.

Without going into details, I'll just say that I used to live near a goat dairy and one time I was invited over there to play.  Nine-year-old me had no idea that "playing" at a goat dairy actually included milking goats.  I was not happy about the idea and I didn't love it.  In fact, I couldn't wait to get home, especially after I was somehow soaked in goat milk.  As soon as I could escape this child labor camp, I rushed home and changed my clothes.  The goat milk soaked clothes were crammed into a corner in my closet and temporarily forgotten.  In a very short time, my room took on a rather pungent smell.  It was so bad, I took to keeping the door closed, in hopes that my sisters and my mom wouldn't discover it.  I didn't want to open the closet to remove the stinky clothes because it smelled worse in the closet (9 year old logic here).  Eventually the offending clothes were taken out of the closet and laundered by someone and the smell faded.  But every time someone mentions "chevre" I gag a little with the memory.

But as usual, I digress....  This recipe has nothing to do with goat cheese.  I only brought up the goat cheese to explain why I was compelled to try the brie.  What I came up with was a pork tenderloin topped with brie and fig preserves and then wrapped in pastry and baked.  It was good, if you like brie.  Which, sadly, I do not.  So I came up with this little beauty and it was actually prettier to look at and easier to serve.


Fig Glazed Pork Tenderloin & Smoked Gouda Flatbread
Recipe by Michelle's Dinner Bell

1 lb fresh pizza dough
1-1/2 lb pork tenderloin
1 sweet onion, quartered and sliced
1/2 cup fig preserves
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
2 cups fresh baby spinach
12 ozs smoked gouda, sliced
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place onions and pork tenderloin in glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and freshly ground pepper.  Spread fig preserves over meat and onions.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to rest at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and stretch dough to fit.  Stir onions in cooking liquid and spoon over dough.  Add apples and spinach.  Layer gouda over spinach.  Bake 15 minutes.  Top with thinly sliced pork and sprinkle with mozzarella.  Place back in oven 5-10 minutes more.  Slice and serve.