Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Warm Lentils

Ingredients

• 650g pork tenderloin
• 4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 x 250g pouches cooked puy lentils
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 80g spinach
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 eating apples, cored and cut into wedges
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 15g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Steamed greens, to serve
• Crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Rub the pork with the Dijon, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the thyme leaves, and a generous hit of salt and black pepper — season it properly now, the crust depends on it. Leave it on the board while you get a heavy stainless or cast-iron pan ripping hot. Pat the surface dry just before it goes in: water means steam, and steam means no crust.
2. Sear the pork over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning every couple of minutes so every face takes colour — you're after deep mahogany, not pale tan. It's done when a probe reads 60°C in the centre; the temperature carries up to 63°C as it rests. Lift it onto a board and rest for 5 minutes. Don't wash the pan — those stuck bits are the backbone of what comes next.
3. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan over medium heat and lay the apple wedges in a single layer. Crowd them and they steam; spread them out and they catch gold at the edges in 3 to 4 minutes. You want them browned but still holding their shape.
4. Drop in the shallot and leek and cook for 2 minutes until silky, then add the sliced garlic. Cook just until fragrant — 30 seconds, no more. Burnt garlic turns the whole dish bitter, so watch it and pull the pan off the heat the moment it smells sweet.
5. Stir in the lentils, the wholegrain mustard and the apple cider vinegar with a splash of water. Scrape up the fond from the base of the pan — that's where the pork flavour lives. Warm everything through for a minute until glossy.
6. Fold the spinach through and let it wilt into the lentils. The pan should look loose and juicy, not dry — the lentils keep drinking as they sit, so err generous with the water. Taste now: season, taste again, adjust. Do it here, not at the table.
7. Slice the rested pork into thick medallions and tip any juices from the board back into the lentils — that's pure savoury depth, don't waste it.