Pork Fillet stuffed with Poached Pear and Gorgonzola

Recipe of the Week………Pork Fillet stuffed with Poached Pear and Gorgonzola

I love pork, and I really do think that it is one of the most under-rated meats out there at the moment. I have learnt over the pat 3 years that most people love pork, I learnt this from my Easy Monday Dinners at the Links whenever I have pork on the menu, I am fully booked and usually sell out on it as well.

Now this dish brings out a little of my love of gorgonzola and pork, it is quite a rich meal, but it is balance beautifully with the Savoury lentils, which is also something that is not eaten much anymore except in soups and vegetarians.

I challenge you readers to try this one out and let me know if you did and what you think about it.

Serves: 4

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cooking Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

…..for the Savoury lentils

400g Brown Lentils

1 Carrot finely diced

1 onion finely diced

2 sticks of celery finely diced

300g Cherry tomatoes quartered

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

4 sprigs of oregano chopped

3 springs of parsley chopped

2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Fry off the carrot, onion & celery in a little olive oil until the onions are translucent and fragrant, add in the garlic, cherry tomatoes and lentils, add water as to cover the lentils, add in the herbs and balsamic vinegar and season slightly, let this simmer for about 45 minutes then check that the lentils are soft, then continue to simmer until all the liquid has reduced to just a couple of tablespoons, check seasoning again and adjust.

Ingredients

……for the pork fillet

4 porks fillets about 220g each

3 pears

2 cups of white wine

2 cups of water

1 cup of sugar

3 cloves

1 star anise

Salt and pepper to taste

4 TBSP olive oil

125g Wedge of blue cheese – best to use Fairview Blue Tower as it is a gorgonzola styled blue cheese and is very creamy, or if you can get your hands on Dolce Latte Gorgonzola that would be even better as that is a double fat gorgonzola.

Method

Place the white wine, water, sugar, cloves and anise into a small pot, peel the pears and place them in the pot on a low heat so that it never boils but just forms bubbles at the bottom of the pot, leave this to simmer like that for 40 minutes, take out the pears and cut them into small cubes. Then crumble the blue cheese into the cubed pears.

Rub the pork fillets with the olive oil, salt and pepper and sear them off in a hot pan to put some colour on them, about 4 minutes on each side.

Rest the pork fillet for about 3 minutes, slice it into about 1cm thick slices, place on a roasting tray and top it with the pear mixture, place it under the grill in the oven for about 2 minutes until you get a wonderful crust on it.

Arrange the lentils on a plate and neatly place the pork fillet on top of this, I have drizzled this with a port and gooseberry reduction, which I will have to cover in another recipe as it is a 5 day long process of stock making then making a full glace and then to make the sauce.

Bon appetite

P.S.

For those of you that are interested in cooking I have started a night called ..Be the Chef it is on the 28^th February 2013 you will come into the kitchen put on a chef’s hat and apron and we will do a 3 hour cooking class, including how to design a 3 course menu, we will also prepare a meal and sit down afterwards and eat as a group. It is limited to 5 teams of 2 people, if you come on your own I will pair you up with somebody suitable.

Enquire at the Links on 042 200 4500 with Eugenie or Olga