Preheat an oven to 200 degrees/gas 6. Place the escalopes between sheets of cling film and bash with a rolling pin until they’re a little bit larger in size (it can help if you put a little oil on the escalope first).

Sweat the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil, add the herbs and set aside to cool down. Once it’s cold, mix fully with the sausage meat, breadcrumbs and pepper. Divide the mixture into four and place a dollop into the centre of each escalope. Roll it up and then wrap the escalope with some bacon. This wasn’t done with much skill or grace, so don’t worry too much about how you do it. I also had too much stuffing as I hadn’t bashed the escalopes out, so I just added some balls of stuffing to the gratin dish, which cooked on their own and provided yet more garnish. Place all four escalopes into a gratin dish, give them a drizzle of olive oil to help get them started and bake for 40 minutes.

John Wilson’s wine recommendation:

Roc des Cambes 2006 Côtes de Bourg, 14%, €62.55. Lush, silky, ripe dark fruits in a deliciously hedonistic wine. Stockist: Wines Direct Mullingar, winesdirect.ie

This is a richer and altogether more substantial dish. Here we should be looking for a more powerful red. Something along the lines of a smooth Aussie Shiraz or a southern Rhone such as Gigondas, Vacqueyras, or Châteauneuf-du-Pape would do nicely. The budget option would be a fruity Côtes du Rhône. I know that many of you like to splash out on good Bordeaux for the big event; with this recipe I reckon you could happily drink the mature Roc des Cambes.