I have found the perfect Christmas present, it won’t cost the earth or your purse, Highgrove Organic Gin. One of the best gin’s I have tasted in a long time. If you really want to push the boat out for making sloe gin look no further. And the bottle design is pretty fab too! This month’s recipe is a great main course for a pre Christmas dinner party. The ricotta keeps the partridge really moist and succulent and the raisins add just a background note of sweetness. The best thing is it can all be prepared ahead of time giving you lots of spare time to make all your boozy Christmas presents this year! Happy Christmas!
Partridge Stuffed with Ricotta and raisins
- 6 partridges
- Foil smeared with butter
- Salt and pepper
- 6 rosemary sprigs
- 1 onion roughly chopped
-
A little sunflower oil
Ricotta Stuffing
- 75g bacon diced finely
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- A little butter
- 300g ricotta
- 1 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp raisins, soaked in 1 tbsp of brandy for 10 minutes
- A grating of an organic orange zest
- pinch of grated nutmeg
- pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
Ricotta Stuffing: Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat, when it is hot add the bacon to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes so that the bacon is cooked. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the bacon to cool. Place all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and Mix together until it is well combined. Set aside or refrigerate the stuffing until ready to use.
Season the cavity of the partridge with salt and pepper and stuff each bird with the Ricotta stuffing dividing it equally between each bird.
Spread the chopped onion into roasting tin and lay the rosemary on top. Place the birds on top of the herbs and onion. Take 6 small sheets of foil and smear them with butter salt and pepper and place over the top of each bird.
Roast in a very hot oven 220c for 15 -18 minutes. Remove the foil if the birds aren’t browning after about 12 minutes. Serve with any pan juices and mashed potatoes.
Tip:
If you have wheat free guests this Christmas - and who doesn’t these days - buy them Daylesford organic wheat free mince pies.
www.daylesfordorganic.com
This article by Amy Willcock appears in The
Shooting Gazette December 2008, and is reproduced here with permission.
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