Venison Pie and Honey Glazed Pear and Cinnamon Strudel Recipe

With lots of rich food over Christmas, we wanted to share with you a delicious alternative to the usual turkey dinner and christmas pudding indulgence. A delicious venison pie with a green crumb or flaky honey glazed pear and cinnamon strudel, might be just what you need this festive season.

Venison pie with green herb crumb

660 kcals per portion

Ingredients

Braised venison

• 2kg of venison haunch
• 50ml of vegetable oil
• 6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2cm dice
• 6 onions, peeled and cut into 1/2cm dice
• 6 celery sticks, cut into 1/2cm dice
• 4 juniper berries, crushed
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 tsp tomato purée
• 800ml of red wine
• 2/3l venison stock, or beef stock
• 6 sprigs of thyme
• Salt
• Ready made short crust pastry

Green Herb Crumb

• 1 loaf stale white bread
• 1 bunch picked thyme
• 1 bunch picked rosemary
• 1 bunch picked parsley

Method for green crumb finish

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until fine and can pass through a sieve

Retain in airtight container until required

Method for Venison Pie

To begin preparing the venison, add some of the oil to a frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. In batches, cook the venison until evenly coloured, draining the fat after each batch in a colander until all the meat is coloured

In a different pan with a heavy base, sweat the vegetables, juniper, and garlic for 4–5 minutes

Add the tomato purée and cook out for 2 minutes

Add the meat to the pan with the vegetables and deglaze with red wine

Reduce by half before adding the stock and thyme

Cover with a cartouche, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 30–40 minutes until the venison is very tender and soft.

Remove the paper and reduce on a high heat until you are left with a rich ragout.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and reserve until required

Line a pie dish with shortcrust pastry, spoon in the venison ragu until nearly overflowing.

Top with the green her crumb, bake until pastry is golden brown (30-40mins)

Top Tip

To complete the dish, serve with confit cabbage and add red current jelly.

Honey Glazed Pear and Cinnamon Strudel

65 kcals per portion

Ingredients

• 2 sheets pre made filo pastry
• 170g of sliced pear
• 28g of low-calorie sweetener
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp clear honey

Serves 4

Method

Place the pear slices, cinnamon and sweetener in a small pan with a little water and poach gently until soft.

Evenly spread the mixture over the strudel paste, roll up lengthways and moisten the ends to seal. Make sure the mixture is cool so not to melt the dough and wrap tightly to avoid air pockets.

Place on a lightly greased baking tray in an oven pre heated to 200 degrees or Gas mark 6 and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and brush lightly with the honey

Bake for a further 5 minutes until golden brown

Cut in 4 pieces and serve hot or cold and garnish with slices of fresh pear.

Top Tip

When assembling your strudel, place parchment paper directly on to your baking tray. This will decrease the risk of breaking the strudel when trying to remove from the pan. You can also lightly dust with icing sugar, add a berry coulis or even add some chopped plums to the pears for a more flavourful taste.