Pork Fillet, Carrot Fondue and Sherry-Shallot Dressing

Do not be put off by the rather strange title of this recipe. It is really very simple, yet looks absolutely stunning as the colours are just fabulous and every time I have served this it has been a huge hit.

Ingredients serves 4

• 2 pieces of pork fillet (about 500g will feed four.)
• 6 slices of streaky bacon/parma ham/proscuitto
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp sherry

For the fondue

• 500g carrots peeled, chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 50g butter
• 300ml double cream

For the dressing

• 200ml dry sherry
• 2 or 3 shallots peeled and sliced into ‘rings’
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 3 tbsp EV olive oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar


And then you need to:


In a heavy saucepan melt the butter over a low heat, throw in the chopped onion and carrots. Put lid on and soften for about 30 mins until very tender. Add the cream and cook over low heat for a further 10 or 15 mins. You can play around with this and add all sorts of things; a mix of half carrots and half butternut squash is great. Adding 1 heaped tsp curry powder, or just cumin powder would also be great. Once cooked carefully pour mixture into food processor and whiz for quite a long time until very finely pureed. You want something that is quite sloppy and so add more cream if necessary. It should be just too thick to pour but not thick enough to stand up in a pile, it should sort of ooze over the plate!

Lay the slices of bacon/parma ham side-by-side on a board, place one pork fillet across the slices, spread 1 tsp chopped garlic along the fillet, grind some sea salt and fresh pepper over it, place the second fillet on top and then roll and wrap the bacon/parma ham around the two fillets. Place the pork fillets on a oiled baking dish, spoon 2 tbsp of sherry over the fillets, cover in foil and place in hot oven (400F/200C) for 30mins (take the foil off half way through the cooking time).

In a small saucepan put the sliced shallots and the sherry and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer until reduced to about 1 tbsp of syrupy liquid. Remove from heat and add vinegar, EV olive oil, sugar and seasoning. With a fork or whisk stir it all together.

To serve spoon some of the carrot fondue into the middle of a warmed plate, slice the pork fillet into “rounds” and carefully place in the middle of the carrot fondue. Drizzle a little of the dressing over each (it should sort of run all over the place) and serve to your lucky guests!