Veal, Pork and Ham Terrine Recipe

Danny's veal, pork and ham terrine recipe is a true work of art. Two pork layers encase a veal centre, which is cooked in a rich sauce inspired by Swiss geschnetzeltes. The terrine is wrapped in dry-cured ham and baked to perfection. A great dish for dinner parties or family feasts.

hide story show story

This is great a recipe if you so happen to make too much geschnetzeltes or have some leftover. What is geschnetzeltes though? Well it is a Swiss-German speciality, that roughly translates as ‘sliced meat’ and is made with veal, cream, wine and mushrooms. Similar in some ways to a stroganoff, but without the paprika.

If you can't get hold of veal, use chicken breast to create that pale central section of this terrine.

Geschnetzeltes mix
200g of veal fillet, sliced into strips
20g of unsalted butter
1/2 banana shallot, finely chopped
50g of mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp plain flour
100ml of white wine
100ml of chicken stock
100ml of double cream
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
To assemble the terrine
600g of pork shoulder, free-range, cut into cubes and trimmed of excess fat
2 banana shallots, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 sprigs of tarragon, leaves picked and chopped
50ml of red wine
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
12 slices of dry-cured ham

print recipe

shopping List

1l terrine mould or loaf tin
Food processor

To begin, make your mini-portion of geschnetzeltes by placing a frying pan on the hob over a high heat. Add 10g of the butter, followed by the strips of veal. Lightly season with salt and pepper

Quickly fry the strips off, until just cooked through. Place them in a bowl with the buttery pan juices

Wipe the same pan clean with some kitchen paper and place back on the hob, this time over a medium heat. Add the remaining butter, followed by the chopped shallot. Turn the heat down to low and sauté for 5 minutes or so, until they are soft. Add the mushrooms, cooking for a further 5 minutes

Sprinkle over the flour, mix to combine then add the white wine. Allow to reduce by two thirds. Add the stock and allow to reduce again before stirring in the cream. Stir and simmer until thickened

Veal slices and the juices in the bowl back to the sauce, and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and allow to cool

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

To assemble the terrine, place the shallots, garlic and tarragon in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to chop and combine the ingredients. Add the cubed pork shoulder and a generous amount of seasoning and blitz – you want to get a sausage meat consistency here, so if the mix looks too sticky, loosen by adding the red wine

Take your terrine or loaf tin and line the bottom with two slices of ham. Line the sides with more ham, making sure that the slices overlap and hang over the sides of the tin. Spoon half of the pork mixture in first, gently but firmly pressing down so that it is nice and level

Add a layer of the veal, laying the strips lengthways down the centre so they're all facing in one direction. Fill any gaps with the mushrooms. Pour over some of the remaining cream sauce but not too much – enough to just cover the veal

Spoon the remaining the pork mixture on top, again, pressing down gently and making sure that there are no gaps. Cover the top of the pork with the overhanging pieces of prosciutto, overlapping to seal

Place the terrine lid on top, or cover with a double layer of foil if using a loaf tin. Place in a deep roasting tray. Boil some water and pour into the roasting tray, until it comes about halfway up the side of the terrine mould

Bake for 2 hours, then remove and allow to cool. You may find you’ve got some excess liquid surrounding the terrine – which itself will shrink a touch. Carefully pour that out into a bowl, and refrigerate the terrine overnight. Serve in thick slices with sourdough and pickles