This recipe serves 10, cooks in under 3 hours (just enough time to open all the pressies and enjoy a wine or two – less if you make the stock in advance) and is not at all tricky. It comes from Jamie Oliver’s Christmas cookbook, and we’ve tweaked it for our climate.
Ingredients
SAUCE
1 kg venison bones
1 red onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 tablespoon plain flour
½ a bottle of Barolo (or any other good nebbiolo)
25 g quality dark chocolate (70%)
25 g unsalted butter
SAUCE
1 kg venison bones
1 red onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 tablespoon plain flour
½ a bottle of Barolo (or any other good nebbiolo)
25 g quality dark chocolate (70%)
25 g unsalted butter
VENISON
1 level tablespoon coffee beans
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
1 orange
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 x venison backstrap fillets, trimmed (sub topside fillets from your mixed or whole carton for a delicious budget friendly option)
14 slices of higher-welfare prosciutto
olive oil
1 level tablespoon coffee beans
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
1 orange
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 x venison backstrap fillets, trimmed (sub topside fillets from your mixed or whole carton for a delicious budget friendly option)
14 slices of higher-welfare prosciutto
olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- Place the venison bones in a large, deep roasting tray. roughly chop onion, carrot and celery, add to the tray with the flour and toss together.
- Roast for 1 hour, then transfer everything to a big stockpot. Add enough boiling water to the tray to scrape up the sticky goodness from the base, then pour that into the pot and add the wine.
- Cover with boiling water, then simmer on a low heat for 2 hours, skimming the surface and topping up the water occasionally, if needed.
- Strain the sauce through a coarse sieve into a pan removing all bones, then simmer remaining stock on a low heat to get to the consistency of your liking, then turn the heat off.
- Bring topside, backstrap or tenderloin to room temperature prior to cooking.
- Crush the coffee beans and peppercorns in a pestle and mortar until fine, pound in the rosemary leaves, then crush in the garlic to make a rough paste.
- Finely grate in the orange zest and muddle in the balsamic. Cut each venison loin in half to give you four pieces, then rub the paste all over the meat.
- Divide the prosciutto between two large sheets of greaseproof paper, slightly overlapping the slices.
- Place two pieces of venison on top of each other on each one, spooning the meat so the thick and thin ends even each other out. Roll up in the prosciutto, tucking in the ends, tie with string at regular intervals to secure the prosciutto in place, then put on a roasting tray.
- To cook, drizzle the loins with a little oil, then roast in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Remove and rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring the sauce back up to a simmer, snap in the chocolate, add the butter, and whisk until smooth. Leave for a few minutes, then season to perfection.
- Remove the string from the venison, then carve and serve with the sauce.
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