Paupiettes De Porc - French Stuffed Pork Fillet Parcels

French Tart's Note:

A wonderful and very elegant dinner party dish, and one that will impress your family and friends! These little parcels can be made ahead of time and frozen uncooked. In France you can buy these ready made in most supermarkets and butchers - but these are so easy to make, that I often make my own. You can also use turkey or veal escalopes - the sauce remains the same. Serve these little parcels with seasonal vegetables, gratin potatoes or rice and pasta.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 8.0 Paupiet ...

• 8 pork escalopes or 8 thin pork steaks
• salt
• pepper
• 400 g good quality pork sausage
• ½ onion , peeled and very finely diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh mixed herbs or ¼ teaspoon dried herbs
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 shallots , peeled and finely diced
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste
• 750 ml medium sweet white wine
• 500 g fresh mushrooms , cleaned and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried orange peel or 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange zest

Bouquet garni made from

• bay leaf
• parsley
• thyme
• sage leaf
• kitchen string

Directions:

1. Flatten the pork escalopes or pork steaks with the flat of a large knife. Salt and pepper generously.
2. Mix the finely diced onion with the sausage meat and add the herbs - mixing well with your hands. Season with black pepper.
3. Place a spoonful of the seasoned sausage meat on each pork escalope one-third of the way down the scallop. Roll the escalope around the sausage meat, tucking the meat around the stuffing until well rolled. Taking about two feet of string, place the bundle in the middle of the string, and tie; turn one-quarter turn and tie again; turn again and tie again. When you have a neatly tied packet of pork and stuffing, clip off any excess string and proceed to tie up the rest of the pork escalopes.
4. Place pork parcels in a single layer in a hot, deep sauté pan with olive oil. Brown on all sides and remove from the pan.
5. Sauté the chopped shallots in the oil left in the pan. Stir until they start to colour, then add the flour and the tomato paste. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture starts to colour then add nearly the whole bottle of wine, reserving a glass for yourself if you wish!
6. Place the pork paupiettes back in the pan with the bouquet garni and the sauce, cover, and simmer slowly for forty-five to sixty minutes.
7. Add the sliced mushrooms and orange zest to the sauce and cook uncovered for another fifteen minutes. Serve 2 paupiettes per person with plenty of sauce and with a selection of seasonal vegetables, gratin potatoes, rice or pasta.
8. To freeze: Place them in a plastic container with greaseproof paper in between them, or in a ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
9. To defrost: Take the paupiettes out the night before you need to cook them and defrost in the fridge. Cook them as before when they have fully defrosted.

Reviews

[IngridH]

Excellent dinner! I've been wanting to try these for quite a while, and I'm very glad that I did! DH and I both enjoyed the meal. I found that I didn't need to cook as long as the directions stated, they were fully cooked and very tender after 35 minutes or so- but my cooktop runs hot. I used 5 ounce pork chops, sliced horizontally, then pounded thin. For the herbs, I used sage, thyme, oregano, and a touch of rosemary fresh from the garden. I used regular tomato paste, as I didn't have sun-dried, but the sauce was still wonderful. While it was a bit of work to assemble all of the bundles, it was well worth the effort, especially as I'll get at least two more meals out of my effort. Thank you for noting that these can be frozen before cooking, I love having an easy and elegant dinner in the freezer.

[Sandi (From CA)]

Holy Food Hangover!! This is like when you've just experienced something stunningly outstanding and, when it's over, it's all you can think and talk about for 24 hours. My husband had to take the next day off work for this very reason. He's just useless standing around his office, head cocked, glazed eyes all blissed out, repeating "Wow!" "Wow!" "Wow!" Ok, enough silliness. I made these as indicated, except I couldn't find sun-dried tomato paste in two usually well-stocked stores, so I used a very flavorful sun-dried tomato tapenade. For the herbs, I used fresh rosemary, thyme and sage leaves. Nothing short of spectacular, FT. Consider me in your debt for this one! :D

[Gerry]

As has already been said fabulous! This recipe has been in the planning and in my cookbook for quite some time just waiting to be made - there was no doubt in my mind as to which recipe I was going to make for my swap partner. I love bundles - they add such an elegance to a meal and always impress. That this tastes as good as the Flying Chef's photo looks it makes for a company quality meal. Thank you for sharing - it's been added to my Company Cookbook.