Porcini mushroom Pork wrapped in Parma ham

I recently saw this very nice recipe idea and thought what a lovely looking midweek meal - but you could eat it any day of the week. The original recipe idea uses potatoes, but I swapped these for swede ... which is lower in carbohydrate ... but if you should try this recipe, the choice of vegetable to accompany is yours dear reader.

Ingredients:

Serves Four

Ready in approx 45 minutes
4 British pork boneless loin steaks, trimmed of fat
4 Parma ham slices
4 tbsp porcini mushroom paste
60 g Taleggio (or similar) cheese, grated
7.5 g fresh thyme
2 tbsp oil
(1 kg Désirée potatoes, scrubbed and roughly chopped)

(2 tbsp milk)

1 large swede, washed, peeled and chopped
butter to add to swede when mashing
500 g leeks, washed, trimmed and thickly sliced
100 g young-leaf spinach, washed

freshly ground black pepper, to season

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, fan 160ºC, gas 4. Put the pork loin steaks between two sheets of cling film and bash with a rolling pin until they're 1cm thick. Remove from the clingfilm.

2. Lay each slice of ham on to a board, put a pork loin steak on top of each one and spread each of them with a tablespoon of the mushroom paste, then a quarter of the cheese and a sprinkling of thyme leaves (reserve a good pinch of thyme leaves for the leeks). Roll each one up and then secure with a cocktail stick if needed.

3. Heat half a tablespoon of the oil in a pan and cook the pork parcels for 1 minute on each side, until golden. Place on to a baking tray, transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the pork is cooked through.

4. Meanwhile, put the (potatoes) swede in a pan of cold water, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Simmer for approx 15 minutes until tender, then drain and mash with (1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the milk if using potatoes) butter if using swede. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

5. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan, add the leeks and remaining thyme leaves and cook for 10 minutes. Stir through the spinach leaves for the last minute, and allow to wilt. Slice each pork loin in half and serve with (creamy mash) buttery swede and vegetables

Original recipe idea here

Hope you enjoy it!

All the best Jan