Iberian pork terrine en croûte

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

This Iberian pork terrine is one of those hypercaloric things that are better not made often because we'll eat it down to the last scrap faster than you can say knife. Just saying.

It's a tasty terrine of minced meats and various seasonings that we also wrap in a pastry casing, hence the French name en croûte, literally 'in crust'. These types of terrines are very typical in regions of France, but the British also make similar dishes, they just call them raised pies.

In fact this recipe is inspired by a formula from Dan Lepard. Especially the casing dough, with loads of lard, is fantastic. Dan, you're a genius.

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

Ingredients

For the pastry:

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

For the filling:

• 300 g minced Iberian pork
• one piece of secreto ibérico of about 200gr
• 50 g pancetta
• 50 ml dry sherry
• 60 g shelled pistachios
• fresh sage leaves
• nutmeg
• ground pepper
• salt

For the finish:
Sage leaves
1 beaten egg

Method

Prepare the filling the night before because it needs to marinate in the sherry and spices. Cut the secreto piece into small dice. Do the same with the pancetta.

Add both to the minced pork and season with the chopped sage, the sherry, grated nutmeg, the pepper and the salt. This filling should be flavorful — don't be afraid to go heavy on the spices. Although if we want to be sure we can always fry or microwave a small bite of the mixture and taste it. It would be a shame after all this to have a bland terrine.
Cover this forcemeat well and leave it in the fridge until the next day.

Make the crust pastry: Using the tips of your fingers rub the cold butter in pieces into the flour until you have a sandy-looking mixture, with very small pieces of butter.

Put the water with the lard in a saucepan and heat over the fire just until the lard melts. Add this mixture to the flour and mix well. When it's a little warm, transfer it to the work surface and knead lightly until smooth. Form it into a disc, put it in an airtight plastic bag and let it chill.

Line the terrine mold with a strip of baking paper, better if it overhangs so you can more easily pull the terrine out once cooked.

Roll out half the dough to the size of the mold and line it, leaving a little overhang on the edge. Put in the filling, pressing down well with a spatula so there are no air pockets, and level the surface.

Roll out the remaining half of the dough. Lightly moisten the edge of the lower pastry and place the lid. Trim any excess and press one pastry onto the other so they stick, making a thick edge.

Finally, brush the surface with the beaten egg and place the sage leaves as decoration. Make two knife cuts in the pastry so steam can escape.
Bake the terrine for 90 minutes at 160° (with fan) / 180° (without fan). It's better if you have a meat thermometer to check after that time if the meat is cooked. It should read at least 65°.

Take out the terrine when it's ready and let it cool without unmolding until completely cool. To remove it from the mold, carefully pull the paper (which should overhang more than mine) to detach it from the base and invert the mold cautiously, placing your hand on it. If necessary to release it, tap the mold on one side on the work surface. But normally the terrine comes out without problems. Enjoy.