October 17th, 2009

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Creamy Parsnip Soup with Red Leg Partridge Sausage Rolls

The game season is now well under way and so is Autumn. It’s a fantastic time of the year especially the combination of game,the earthy root vegetables and the amazing leaf colours in the forest.

We often have hearty soups for dinner with a couple of slices of bread and I must admit this is my choice for a comfort lunch meal. Somehow  it always feels that I can conquer anything after eating a bowl of hearty soup. I made this dish for us for a Saturday lunch and I was pretty pleased with the result. Actually I was more than pleased as these Red Leg Partridge Rolls are the best sausage rolls that I have ever made. They were delicious and made perfect substitute for a half a sandwich.

I roasted the bones from the partridge to make a stock that forms the base of this delicious parsnip soup. I have a issue with poorly made soups, ooh I feel another rant coming on…. Yes here it goes…I can judge a chefs/ cooks palate and how much they care about what they are doing by how well they can make a soup. Soups are pretty simple things to make but this is one task where shortcuts stand out like a sore thumb. An under seasoned soup is horrible and not worthy to be eaten by me. It’s so important that when you cook a soup you must start seasoning from the very beginning and do it in stages. It’s easy to add too much salt and the worst offence is when you do not season the soup at all,  but add the salt on serving. All you taste then is surface salt and there are no layers of flavours which should have been carefully built through out the cooking process.The best example is when you eat leek and potato soup. If you taste the soup but there is a empty and no lasting flavour in your mouth then it means the cook has forgotten to add the salt. Then the worst thing to do would be to add loads of salt to cover up the mistake and all you would taste is a the surface salt, grrr it makes my blood boil. Michelle Roux Jnr. always said whatever touches the pan must be accompanied by seasoning. I shall never forget his wise words but I would suggest this is done within reason! I have made plenty of mistakes during my career as a chef and I shall never forget a incident when I was a commis chef many moons ago and made 20 litres of leek and potato soup that was finally only good enough for the drain! I shall never forget that day, surface salt and too much pepper was the obvious culprit! I hang my head in shame!!

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These red leg partridge sausage rolls are to die for, they have a rich and creamy texture. The partridge is rich and with the addition of grated parsnips which I think frankly is an ingenious thing to do add that extra bit of excitement to a humble sausage roll, these are posh sausage rolls indeed! I was surprised by what I obtained from one partridge, but I added pork mince and diced smoked bacon to add extra character and body.

I also used my own home made rough puff pastry,however a good quality shop bought puff pastry would suffice. The linseeds used  to garnish these posh sausage rolls add a lovely earthy nutty flavour, mmm delicious!

This parsnip soup with red leg partridge rolls are rich so watch the portion sizes unless it’s the main meal then it’s perfect!

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Red Leg Partridge Sausage Rolls

  • 400g home made rough puff pastry or all butter puff pastry
  • 150g diced red leg partridge meat
  • 200g pork mince
  • 50g grated fresh raw parsnip
  • 1tsp ground coriander
  • 50g finely diced white onion
  • 60g diced smoked bacon
  • 2 whole medium free range eggs
  • 1tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  • 1tbs golden linseeds
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Prepare the partridge meat, remove the breast from the carcase and the meat from the leg bones. Set the bones aside to make the stock for the soup.

Dice the partridge meat into smaller rough  pieces.

In a large mixing bowl mix the pork mince, diced partridge meat, diced smoked bacon, grated fresh raw parsnip, ground coriander, seasoning, chopped parsley and one egg. I like to get my hands into the mix to ensure a even distribution of ingredients.

Whisk the remaining egg and set aside.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface in a rectangular shape till about 3mm thick. Cut the pastry in about 8cm wide long strips and roll the meat into a long sausage shape, place the sausage meat in the centre of one of the 8cm wide pastry strips and brush the one side with the egg wash, fold it over so that the pastry overlaps to form a long sausage roll. Flip the sausage roll over so that the overlapped pastry is at the bottom, leave to rest whilst making the rest of the  long sausage rolls.

Once all the sausage rolls are made cut these into smaller sausage rolls about 3cm long , place them on the lined baking tray, leave at least 3cm gaps between each sausage roll to allow the air in the oven a chance to circulate and the sausage rolls room to expand. I work on two mini sausage roll per portion.

Brush the sausage rolls with the egg wash and garnish with the linseeds.

Bake the sausage rolls for 25 - 30 minutes, let them rest on a cooling rack once cooked.

Serve the sausage rolls at room temperature, store any left over sausage rolls in the fridge for up to three days.

Red Leg Partridge Stock

  • Carcase of the red leg partridge and the leg bones
  • 1 stick of celery, chopped in four
  • 1 large carrot, sliced
  • 1 onion, cut in 1/8's
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1tsp sunflower oil
  • One bay leaf
  • Large sprig of thyme
  • 150ml white wine
  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 5 white pepper corns
  • 1.2L water

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Place the partridge carcase and leg bones on a roasting tray and roast it for 30 - 35 minutes until dark and well roasted.

Prepare the vegetables, wash and cut it in even size pieces.

Heat a large saucepan with the oil and brown the vegetables until golden brown, add the coriander seeds, peppercorn, bay leaf and thyme.

Add the browned partridge bones, deglaze with the wine and cook until it the wine become sticky and coating the vegetables and bones.

Add the water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Skim the impurities with a ladle and simmer the stock for 30 minutes.

Pass the stock through a fine sieve or muslin cloth, discard the bones and vegetables and keep the stock refrigerated until needed.

Makes approximately 750ml partridge stock.

Parsnip Soup

  • 1kg parsnips, peeled and finely sliced
  • 25g unsalted butter
  • 100ml double cream
  • 100ml white wine
  • 650ml partridge stock
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Heat a medium saucepan, melt the butter as soon as it starts to foam add the finely sliced parsnips with seasoning, saute until the parsnips start to become transparent ie no colour.

Add the white wine and cook until the wine is completely absorbed and glaze the parsnips, add the stock and bring the stock to the boil.

Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cover the saucepan with a lid. Cook the soup until the parsnips are completely soft.

Add the cream, bring the soup to the boil, simmer for 3 minutes.

Transfer the soup to a blender or thermomix and puree until silky smooth, pass the soup through a fine sieve.

Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Keep refrigerated until required. Bring the soup back to the boil for a few minutes before serving. If the soup is a touch too thick add a little water or stock to let it down.

Caramelised Chervil Root Soup Garnish

  • 4 chervil roots, peeled
  • 25g unsalted butter
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Peel the chervil roots and cut each into 1/4's and then cut the quarters into 1cm long pieces. Bring a medium saucepan with salted water to the boil, cook the chervil roots until tender and drain them.

Heat a non-stick frying pan with the butter and sautee the blanched chervil roots until golden brown add seasoning, drain on kitchen paper.

Garnish the soup with the warm caramelised chervil roots.

Serves 6

Food Fanatics Tip

If you are not making the partridge rolls then substitute the stock with either vegetable or chicken stock. The partridge in the rolls could be substituted with chicken breast meat.


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7 Comments to “Creamy Parsnip Soup with Red Leg Partridge Sausage Rolls”

  1. [...] Creamy Parsnip Soup with Red Leg Partridge Sausage Rolls Recipe by … [...]

  2. What a great recipe. Love the combination of two of my favourite things into something even more exciting. Great photos too.

  3. William says:

    Fantastic photography, inspirational recipe! Well Done!!

  4. [...] Creamy Parsnip Soup with Red Leg Partridge Sausage Rolls Recipe by … [...]

  5. Hilary says:

    The sausage rolls sound like they are to die for. However, making the soup is probably more doable for me :)

    Great inspiration, as always. I love coming here for your terrific photos and wonderful take on modern British food.

  6. I think this parsnip soup looks and sounds heavenly! Perfect accompaniment to a US Thanksgiving menu! Thank you!

  7. I lost you on my blog feed. Thank heavens for Twitter.

    I love the thought of this menu but game is tricky to find here in New Zealand although the country is flooded with hunters. I’m going to review my soup making technique on the back of this post. I’ve always salted at the end. Opphs!

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