Partridge breasts with roasted pear and spinach & perry sauce
A classic combination of partridge and pears- making the most of autumn flavours
Ingredients
- 1 oven ready partridge breasts removed
- 1 piece ready made puff pastry rolled out 1.5cm thick and 7cm square
- 100 grams picked spinach leaves
- 1 ripe pear peeled and cored, cut into 6 pieces
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 50 grams salted butter
- 25 ml vegetable oil
- 1 egg to glaze
- 50 ml double cream
- 75 ml game or beef stock
- 100 ml perry
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- 2 sprigs thyme
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pre heat your oven to 200c, gas 7-8 Place the puff pastry onto a baking sheet and glaze with the egg, bake in the pre-heated oven until crisp and golden about 10-15 mins
- Remove the pastry from the oven and remove a 5cm x 5cm lid from the centre of the pastry, put the newly formed shell back in the oven until crisp in the centre about 6-7minutes In a hot frying pan put half of the vegetable oil and half of the butter, and the thyme sprigs when the butter is foaming cook the partridge breasts for 2-3 minutes on either side, season with salt and pepper, remove from the pan and leave in a warm place to rest.
- In the same pan add the shallots and garlic and cook until soft 2-3 minutes or so, increase the heat and de-glaze the pan with the Perry, reduce this by half. Add the stock and again reduce by half, finish with the cream and reduce a little more until an unctuous sauce consistency is achieved, season and finish with a little of the chopped parsley
- In a frying pan place the butter and the remaining all, heat until foaming, add the pears and colour gently for 1-2 minutes remove and keep warm In the same pan add the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until wilted, season and drain on kitchen paper to remove any excess water.
- To assemble the dish, take the puff pastry shell, and place the spinach in the centre, top with a few of the slices of pear and the Partridge breasts Spoon the sauce over generously and finish with a couple more of the pear pieces and a good sprinkle of chopped parsley Serve straight away
