Paupiettes De Porc - French Stuffed Pork Fillet Parcels

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.

• Ready In: 1 hr 45 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 8 Paupiettes

Ingredients

• 8  pork escalopes or 8  thin  pork steaks
•  salt
•  pepper
• 400  g  good quality pork sausage
• 1⁄2 onion, peeled and very finely diced
• 1  teaspoon  fresh mixed herbs or 1⁄4 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.