Slow-braised venison pie with sweet potato crust

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ onions
• 120g carrots
• 120g celery
• 1kg springbok or other venison leg, cubed
• 1.5l homemade beef or chicken stock
• 4 crushed juniper berries
• 15g thyme
• 1.5kg sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 egg yolks
• 100g cake flour
• Large pinch salt
• Large pinch pepper
• 30ml canola oil
• 1 bay leaf

METHOD

Finely chop onions, carrots and celery making sure to keep them separated.

Place the flour into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toss the springbok with the flour making sure every piece is evenly coated.

Warm a pan and add 15ml of oil. Brown the meat in batches. When all the springbok has been browned, keep to one side.

Heat the remaining 15ml of oil in a pan and sauté the onions until opaque. Add the carrots and cook for a few minutes then add the celery and cook for another few minutes.

Add the springbok, beef stock, juniper, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and leave to simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, roast the sweet potatoes in the oven until soft.

Pass the sweet potatoes through a fine sieve. Add the egg yolks to the sweet potato and season with salt and pepper.

When the venison filling is soft, fill ramekins with the pie filling and top with the sweet potato mash.

Place ramekins in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove and serve garnished with sprigs of thyme.

Serves: 6, Preparation time: 30min, Cooking time: 2½ hrs

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