Post Eurovision recipe - number one

After a busy Eurovision weekend, I'm catching up with recipes that people have been asking about.

The turkey papettes are a take on a French left-overs in which rolls of cooked meat are given a filling and then recooked in a gravy or sauce.

These particular "rolls" are dry and make really good party food.  The rolls once cooked and cooled are cut on the diagonal and served with cocktail sticks and a Dijon mayonnaise.

Turkey Papettes

The turkey papettes are easy.  The filling is for about 700 grams of turkey meat (which have been cut into steaks and beaten thinly).

• One large onion
• 150 grams of pork liver pate
• Three or four generous pinches of dried herbs (an equal mix of tarragon, thyme and sage) and a good pinch of salt.
• A good glug of olive oil and a generous knob of butter.

Slowly melt the filling ingredients over a slow heat for about 20-30 minute and allow to cool.  The onions will have needed to soften and pate amalgamate into a rough paste.

Take approximately two dozen thin asparagus spears (or slice thick ones lengthwise) and cut to approximately 8-10 cms in length.

Spread a two generous teaspoons of the pate filling onto the thinned turkey steaks and arrange two to three spears down the centre.  Roll the meat and pin together shut with cocktail sticks or tie with string.

Once all the rolls have been done, rub olive oil over the top and place in a pre-heated oven (@200c) for between 30-40 minutes - or until the rolls are bronzed.

Take out and cool and once they have rested for 30 minutes or so, slice on diagonal to serve. 

An alternative that I've used is a neck lamb joint - sliced along its length and opened up butterfly fashion.  Beat to very long, thin (about a cm or less).  The filling is along the same lines as the one below, but using a layer of cooked spinach instead of the asparagus and using three times the amount of herbs - albeit a fresh mix including tarragon, thyme and flat leaf parsley.  I roll this length wise - quite tricky - and tie it with string - putting this in a medium oven 165-175c - covered for the first 30 minutes of cooking and then a further 30 minutes without.  The final 30 minutes I put a mix chopped sweet peppers and courgettes around the meat.

For a light supper (with no carbs) this would serve two easily.