Recipes

Venison Medallions with Roasted Squash and Parsley Tabbouleh and fresh Salsa Verde Dressing

Recipe by Sophie Wright

This is a very simple mid-week recipe for the summer.

Very healthy, colourful and full of lovely bright and fragrant flavours it a must to add to all repertoires. The sweet squash really works well with the Venison, especially when it is left pink in the middle to maximise its tenderness and rich flavour.

 

Method

Tabbouleh
Chop the butternut squash into 1cm dice, no need to peel. Remove all the seeds. Place the dice onto a non stick oven tray and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Place into a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Make sure they are cooked through and have a few caramelised edges once cooked.
Heat the stock in a saucepan. Put the couscous into a large bowl and add some salt and pepper. Once the stock is boiling, pour over the couscous and cover with cling film. Leave for 10-15 minutes for the couscous to steam and swell.
Now add the orange zest, lemon juice, chopped herbs, flaked almonds, pomegranate seeds and cooked squash to the couscous. Then drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil, stir well and taste for seasoning. Set aside.


Salsa Verde
Place the red chilli, mustard, vinegar, capers and cornichons into a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth consistency. Add the herbs with the extra virgin olive oil and pulse until you are left with a chunky textured paste. Season with pepper. Alternatively you can do this all by hand.


Medallions
Drizzle well with olive oil and coat in the cracked black pepper and salt. Heat a frying pan until smoking hot and lay each medallion into the pan. Don't over crowd them; do them in batches if you pan is a little small. Leave to cook until well coloured on each side, around 4 minutes a side. This will cook your meat to medium rare and will give you the best result for eating quality. Leave the meat to rest for 10 mins in a warm place before serving with the Tabbouleh and the Salsa Verde on the side.

 
 
 
 
Serves 4

Preparation: 20 mins

Time to cook: 20 mins

Venison Medallions with Roasted Squash and Parsley Tabbouleh and fresh Salsa Verde Dressing

Ingredients

Venison

8 x 100g New Zealand venison medallions

2 tbs Olive oil

1 tbsp cracked black pepper, sifted to remove the husk

1 tsp salt

 

Salsa Verde

50g coriander
50g flat leaf parsley
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp capers in vinegar
6 cornichons or mini gherkins
1 medium hot red chilli, seeds left in
50mls extra virgin olive oil

Tabbouleh

1 Butternut Squash
1 tsp Chilli flakes
400ml vegetable stock
200g couscous
Juice of 2 lemons
Zest 1 orange
50g bunch of coriander, chopped
50g bunch of mint, leaves only, chopped
75g toasted flaked almonds
50ml extra virgin olive oil
100g picked pomegranate seeds

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