Festive pork fillet with mushroom cream sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1,000 g pork fillet(s)
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp, heaped tarragon
• 1 tbsp, heaped chervil
• 1 tsp, heaped fleur de sel or coarse sea salt
• 4 pinches of pepper, freshly ground
• 200 g bacon, sliced
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil, sunflower oil or clarified butter
• 2 large onions
• ½ slice(s) celeriac, 1 cm thick, from a medium-sized bulb
• 80 g Parma ham or San Daniele, thinly sliced
• 250 g mushrooms
• 200 ml broth
• 2 tbsp, heaped tomato paste
• 200 ml white wine (preferably Chardonnay)
• 250 ml cream
• 2 pinches of sea salt
• 2 pinches of pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 500 g tagliatelle pasta
• 2 pinches of sea salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 6 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes; Total time approx. 8 hours 20 minutes

NT method

It’s best to start preparing the day before, as the seasoned fillet should rest overnight. Trim the fillet—if not done by the butcher—that is, remove all membranes and tendons. Now sprinkle and rub the meat all over first with salt, then with pepper, chervil, and tarragon. Only then brush with mustard (I use Maille mustard). Fold the thin end of the fillet over to form a sausage of equal thickness. Place the bacon strips on a large work board, overlapping each strip by 1 cm, creating a strip that can wrap around the fillet. Wrap the bacon around the fillet and secure the bacon with metal skewers or, if necessary, toothpicks. Wrap the fillet in cling film and let it rest for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight, at around 10°C (50°F), to allow the flavors to develop best. Before cooking, preheat the oven to 80°C (176°F) top/bottom heat for 30 minutes. Preheat a large plate or shallow baking dish for the meat. Heat the oil/clarified butter in a roasting pan and sear the fillet on each side until it is nicely browned. Brown the head ends of the fillet, ideally using tongs and a spatula. Then immediately place the fillet on the plate or baking dish in the preheated oven and cook for 1 hour. Do not open the oven door. Use an oven thermometer to check the oven temperature and a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. Set the roasting pan and any juices aside; you will need them for preparing the sauce. While the fillet is cooking, trim the mushrooms and dice them into approximately 1×1 cm pieces. Cut the onions into wafer-thin quarter rings and the celery into wafer-thin strips. Cut the ham slices into thin strips. Chop the garlic cloves very finely. Return the roasting pan to the heat. Sauté the onions in the oil/dry pan juices, sweat the ham, and add the celery. Before the mixture browns, pour in the stock and Chardonnay and stir in the tomato paste. Simmer for about 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and simmer for about 3 minutes. Now pour in the cream and add the finely chopped garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. As a side dish, cook the tagliatelle according to the package instructions or cook homemade pasta. After 1 hour of cooking, the fillet will be thoroughly cooked and can be served with the sauce and pasta.