Pork fillet wrapped in bacon with pumpkin and leek vegetables and pear with walnut and rosemary topping

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg pork fillet heads (pork fillet tips), approx. 4 pieces of 250 g each
• 15 slices of bacon
• 1 m.-large Hokkaido pumpkin(s)
• 2 stalk(s) leeks
• 4 m.-sized pear(s)
• 5 sprigs rosemary
• 150 g walnut kernels
• 50 g dark forest honey
• 8 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 8 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 500 ml rosé wine
• Salt
• pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan/convection oven). Deseed the Hokkaito pumpkin and cut into small pieces. The pieces should be no larger or thicker than 5 cm, otherwise the specified cooking time will not be sufficient. Cut the leek into thin rings and mix them with the pumpkin and half of the chopped rosemary needles, a generous splash of rapeseed oil (approx. 4-6 tbsp), salt, and pepper, and then place them in a large casserole dish. Place the casserole dish in the hot oven for approximately 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 100°C (212°F). While the vegetables are cooking, trim the pork fillet tips so that they fit neatly next to each other in the casserole dish. Wrap each fillet individually in bacon. If the bacon alone doesn’t hold, you can of course use kitchen string. After wrapping, sear the fillets on all sides in a little oil. Depending on their thickness, the fillets should not remain in the pan for longer than 5-8 minutes. The fillets are then removed from the hot pan and set aside. The liquid from the searing is then deglazed with the rosé wine and balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper. This mixture is reduced by about half in about 10 minutes to form a dark sauce. When the vegetables have reached the aforementioned cooking time of 30 minutes, the casserole dish is briefly removed from the oven. At this point, you should make sure that the oven has actually cooled down to 100°C (212°F) (important). The fillets are now placed on the bed of vegetables and the quartered pears are draped around the fillets before the balsamic sauce is poured over everything as a finishing touch. The casserole dish is then returned to the oven for another 30 minutes, this time at 100°C. While the dish is being finalized in the oven using the low-temperature cooking method, the topping for the pork fillet can be prepared. To do this, chopped walnuts are toasted together with chopped rosemary in a small pan. As soon as the walnuts and needles take on some color, they are deglazed with the honey. The mixture should not be left to stand for too long, as it hardens very quickly and is then difficult to spread over the fillet. At this point, there are two options for finalizing/arranging: 1. The topping is finished at the time of serving and is then spread over the meat after the fillet has been carved. 2. The topping is finished so that it continues to roast in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Because of the pumpkin, the dish doesn’t really need a separate side dish. However, I recommend some nice dark bread or a ciabatta baguette, as there will always be some sauce left on the plate. If you prefer something a little heartier, you can of course also serve it with a side dish of potatoes.