Iberian pork terrine en croûte

The recipe brought to us today by Miriam, author of El Invitado de Invierno , Iberian pork terrine with crust, is original and delicious. I encourage you to prepare it at home, it will be a sure success!

This Iberian pork terrine is one of those high-calorie things that it is better not to make often because we will eat it without even leaving the bones in no time. I'll just drop it.

This is a delicious terrine of minced meat and various condiments that is also wrapped in a pastry cover, hence the French name en croûte, literally en crust. This type of terrine is very typical in parts of France, but the British also prepare similar dishes, only they call them raised pies.

In fact, this recipe is inspired by a recipe by Dan Lepard. The dough used for the wrapper, with a few pounds of lard, is fantastic. Dan, you are a phenomenon.

Le Creuset square ceramic terrine , Kitchen Craft round acacia board , Emile Henry ceramic plates and Pallarès kitchen knives

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 50 g cold butter
• 325 g of soft flour
• 65 g of lard
• 85 g of water
• 1 tsp salt

For the filling:

• 300 g of minced Iberian pork
• a piece of Iberian pork of about 200g
• 50 g of bacon
• 50 ml dry sherry
• 60 g of shelled pistachios
• fresh sage leaves
• nutmeg
• ground pepper
• salt

For the finish:
Sage leaves
1 beaten egg

Elaboration

We prepare the filling the night before because it has to marinate in sherry and spices. We cut the pork loin into small cubes. We do the same with the bacon.

Add both to the minced pork and season with chopped sage, sherry, grated nutmeg, pepper and salt. This filling should be tasty, so don't be afraid to overdo it with the spices. But if you want to be sure, you can always put a small bite of the mixture in the frying pan or microwave and taste it. It would be a shame if this whole mess ended up with a bland terrine.
We cover this stuffing well and leave it in the refrigerator until the next day.

We make the crust dough: Using our fingertips, rub the butter into small pieces with the flour until it forms a sandy-looking mixture with very small pieces of butter.

Put the water and butter in a saucepan and heat it over the heat until the butter melts. Add this mixture to the flour and mix well. When it is slightly warm, transfer it to the counter and knead it lightly until it is smooth. Make a cake with it, put it in a sealed plastic bag and let it cool.

We line the terrine mould with a strip of baking paper, preferably leaving it overhanging so that it is easier to pull the terrine out once it is cooked.

We stretch half of the dough to the size of the mould and line it, leaving a little overhang around the edges. We add the filling, pressing it down well with a spatula so that there are no gaps, and levelling the surface.

Roll out the remaining half of the dough. Lightly moisten the edge of the bottom dough and place the lid on. Trim off any excess and press one dough against the other so that they stick together, creating a thick border.

Finally, we paint the surface with the beaten egg and add the sage leaves as decoration. We make two knife cuts in the dough so that the steam can escape.
Cook the terrine for 90 minutes at 160° (with air) / 180° (without air). It is best to use a meat thermometer to check after this time whether the meat is cooked. It should reach at least 65°.

We take the terrine out when it is ready and let it cool without removing it from the mould until it is completely cold. To remove it from the mould, we carefully pull the paper (which should stick out more than mine) to detach it from the bottom and carefully invert the mould, placing our hand on it. If necessary, to release it, we can hit the side of the mould on the counter. But normally the terrine comes out without any problems. Enjoy!