How to Make a Roulade (Part 1)

Butterflying meat is a technique that allows you to turn a thicker piece of meat (for instance pork tenderloin or turkey breast) into a piece that you can use to make a roulade, without damaging the texture. The first step is to slice the meat lengthwise, but not through and through. The second and third step are a bit more challenging: take your knife and half the meat, again lengthwise, from the centre to the right and then from the centre to the left. Basically, you have now quartered the meat but it still in one piece. Difficult? This helpful video shows you how to do it.
Some instructions stop after the first step and use a meat hammer to flatten the meat. Nice, but the result is not even close to the real thing.

Once the pork tenderloin is butterflied, it’s time to add the filling, on the outside. Sounds odd, but our butcher was right, if you fry the roulade inside-out, you get a much better result.

We have made pork tenderloin roulades with various fillings. This recipe is for a Mediterranean approach. You could also go for a spicy mixture with red pepper paste, garlic, onion, ginger and soy sauce.

Wine Pairing

In general both red and white wine can go very well with a roulade of pork tenderloin. It all depends on the filling. In case of this Mediterranean filling, we would suggest a more robust wine, for instance Syrah. This is a full-bodied red wine with medium to high levels of tannin. It has fruity flavors and a slightly peppery finish.
In case of a filling with red pepper paste, garlic, ginger and soy sauce you could pair the roulade with a more spicy red wine, for instance Zinfandel, or with a white wine with a touch of sweetness (Riesling, perhaps Viognier).

What You Need

Pork Tenderloin
Black garlic
Sage
Black Olives
Rosemary
Fennel Seed
Pancetta
Black Pepper

What You Do

Butterfly the meat
Devein and chop the sage
Halve the black olives
Crush the fennel seeds
Make a mixture of black garlic, sage, black olives, rosemary, fennel seed and black pepper. It should be a powerful mixture
Spread the mixture over the meat. Keep the edges free.
Cover with slices of pancetta.
Roll up the meat
Tie with kitchen twine
Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes
Preheat your oven to 160 °C or 320 °F
Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 65 °C and 75 °C, or 145 °F and 165 °F (pink and well-done respectively)
Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
Slice and serve on a warm plate, for instance with green peas, or pommes dauphinois, or a salad or ratatouille. Just think about the filling and be inspired!