Taking A Page From The Bunny Lounge Cookbook

 If you have not been to The Bunny Lounge, you have not only missed a chance to see the adorable Hef and his canine roommates, Shadow and Bandit, but you have missed out on Hef's Mom's cooking. She loves to cook and is always happy to share her recipes with her readers. I gain weight just looking at her food.

Recently, she shared a recipe for slow-cooking pork tenderloin in the crock pot with BBQ sauce until it became like pulled pork. Now, I luvs me some pulled pork, but I'm not a big BBQ sauce fan; I like to taste meat before sauce, so I decided to take the recipe and experiment using tomato sauce instead. I ended up adding diced tomatoes because it didn't look like I had enough liquid (and running to the store on the day before Thanksgiving was NOT an option) and using Italian seasoning as well.

The results were AWESOME! Hubby loved it so much, he had thirds. The pork was tender and juicy, the broth was tomato-ey, yet not overpowering. Hubby and I had it over bread, but you could just as easily serve it over pasta. I'm calling "Italian Pulled Pork", and here is the recipe:

Italian Pulled Pork for Crock Pot

2 ¾ - 3 lbs. pork tenderloin (I used two tenderloins, about 1 ½ lbs. each, since they were Buy One, Get One Free at my local grocery store)

1 small can Contadina tomato sauce with Onion and Garlic (tossed the can before I realized that I would need the size for a recipe--it's the smallest can they have)

2 14.5 oz. cans Contadina diced tomatoes

Mrs. Dash Italian Medley spice blend to taste (I really loaded it on, probably used a tablespoonful in total)

Pour tomato sauce in bottom of crock pot.

Add tenderloin, turn over in sauce a few times until well-coated.

Liberally shake Italian Medley over tenderloin and sauce.

Top with diced tomatoes.

Sprinkle a little more Italian Medley over the top.

Place lid on crock pot and cook on low for a minimum of 8 hours, opening it once or twice to turn the tenderloin.

Take a fork and rake it over the tenderloin to shred it, then mix it with the broth.

Serve on bread or pasta.

Serves 4 to 6.

We'll definitely be having this one again for sure.  Thanks again to Hef's Mom for the original recipe.

To my fellow Americans, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. To everyone else, I suggest making tomorrow Italian Pulled Pork Day, and enjoy! :)