Anchovy-Crusted Pork Loin

The eighth annual sickle cell BBQ fundraiser at Mt. Zion. Eight years. Eight years of smoke and purpose. The number keeps growing and the purpose keeps deepening, and this year we raised $9,800 — nearly ten thousand dollars, the most we've ever raised, and the Denise Johnson Memorial Scholarship is funding its first recipient: a nineteen-year-old woman named Kesha Williams from South Memphis who has sickle cell and is starting at the University of Memphis in the fall to study nursing.

Nursing. Like Rosetta. Like Aaliyah might someday be. The circle spirals outward, and the money we raised by smoking pork shoulders in a church parking lot is sending a young woman to nursing school, and that young woman will heal people the way Rosetta heals people, and the healing began with Denise, who didn't get to be healed but whose name is now attached to healing, and if that isn't redemption, I don't know what redemption looks like.

I stood at the microphone and told the crowd about Kesha, and about Denise, and about the distance between loss and purpose, which is shorter than you think and longer than you want, and the bridge is made of pork shoulders and stubbornness and the refusal to let grief be the end of the story. Rosetta held my hand. The church said Amen. I sat down and ate a plate of my own BBQ and the BBQ tasted like it always tastes — like hickory and patience — but this year it also tasted like victory, because $9,800 is a victory, and Kesha Williams is a victory, and Denise's name on a scholarship is the biggest victory of all.

Walter Jr. ran the second smoker this year with competence bordering on skill. I watched him manage the fire and mop the shoulders and adjust the vents, and I thought: He's learning. Slowly, the way all Johnsons learn — by watching, by failing, by standing next to someone who knows and absorbing the knowledge through proximity and repetition. The tradition is transferring. The fire is being passed.

We smoke eight shoulders at the fundraiser every year, and that feed—hickory-slow, mop-basted, fire-managed through the night—belongs to the parking lot and the cause. But when I get home and Rosetta is quiet and the numbers are still echoing in my head and Kesha Williams’s face is still in front of me, I want pork that fits inside a kitchen: something that asks the same patience but rewards a smaller crowd. This anchovy-crusted pork loin is what I reach for. The anchovy melts into the crust the way hickory melts into smoke—you don’t taste it outright, you taste what it becomes—and that transformation, something humble turned into something that carries a room, feels exactly right after a day like the one we just had.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 center-cut pork loin roast (3 to 4 lbs), trimmed
8 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained and finely minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup dry white wine or low-sodium chicken broth (for the pan)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 400°F. Place a rack in a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
Make the anchovy crust. In a small bowl, combine the minced anchovies, garlic, olive oil, Dijon mustard, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, salt, and lemon zest. Stir into a thick paste. The anchovies will dissolve into the mixture—this is what you want.
Coat the roast. Pat the pork loin dry with paper towels. Using your hands or a spatula, spread the anchovy paste evenly over the entire surface of the roast, pressing gently so it adheres.
Sear for color (optional but recommended). Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add a thin film of olive oil and sear the coated roast on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, until the crust is lightly golden. Transfer to the prepared rack in the roasting pan, or leave in the skillet if oven-safe.
Roast. Pour the wine or broth into the bottom of the pan to prevent scorching. Roast uncovered for 60 to 75 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 145°F.
Rest before slicing. Remove the roast from the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes. This keeps the juices in the meat where they belong.
Slice and serve. Cut the roast into 1/2-inch slices. Spoon any pan juices over the top and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Anchovy-Crusted Pork Loin — For the Johnsons Who Keep the Fire Burning