Ingredients
- 1 x 350g piece of trimmed venison loin
- 50g salted butter
- 4 large spring onions
- 1 yellow courgette
- 6 Jerusalem artichokes
- 150ml rapeseed oil
- 50ml smoked rapeseed oil
- 50g grated parmesan
- 50g toasted, chopped hazelnuts
- 150g chargrilled cooked tinned peppers
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 30ml sherry vinegar
- 25g caster sugar
- Salt and pepper
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 1 pinch of nigella seeds
- 30g toasted flaked almonds
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of sweet smoked paprika
Method
- Slice down with tight incisions across the courgette, leaving about 1cm from the bottom unsliced so that it stays together. Rub a little salt, oil and pepper, and roast in a preheated oven at 210°C for 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Now make the pesto. Blitz one clove of garlic, nigella seeds, the green part of the spring onions and 50ml of rapeseed oil together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Put the mixture into a pan and cook on a medium heat until the oil goes bright green and starts to separate away from the pulp. Chill on ice to preserve the colour, stir in the parmesan and hazelnuts.
- To make the romesco sauce, blitz the peppers, one garlic clove, cayenne pepper, paprika, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper together. Slowly add the smoked oil and taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Peel the artichokes. Deep fry the peelings in rapeseed oil at 140°C until they are golden brown and crispy. Roast the artichokes in a pan with some more rapeseed oil until they are tender. Add a little butter and thyme and reserve.
- Cook the venison loin in a hot cast iron pan, colouring well all over and put it in the oven for about three minutes at 170°C. Take out of the oven and add a little butter and thyme. Baste the meat and rest it on a tray for about 5 minutes.
- Carve the meat, heat up the romesco sauce, courgette, artichokes and pesto. Plate and finish with some artichoke crisps.
