Wild Venison Sausage and Mustard Hotpot

Ingredients

• 8 wild venison sausages (about 600 g)
• 800 g potatoes, peeled and sliced 3 mm thick
• 250 g leeks, washed and sliced
• 20 ml rapeseed oil
• 20 g butter
• 20 g plain flour
• 350 ml low-salt chicken stock
• 100 ml milk
• 25 g wholegrain mustard
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 g fine salt
• 1 g ground black pepper

Method

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 200°C, or 180°C fan. Put a saucepan of water on to boil. Parboil the potato slices for 5 minutes while the sausages brown in the next step, then drain carefully so they keep their shape.

2. 2

   Heat the oil in a wide pan and brown the sausages for 8–10 minutes, turning often. Transfer to a plate. Soften the leeks in the same pan for 6 minutes.

3. 3

   Stir in the flour, then gradually add the stock and milk. Add mustard, thyme and half the seasoning. Simmer for 3 minutes until lightly thickened.

4. 4

   Cut the partly cooked sausages into thick pieces on a board reserved for raw meat. Put them in a 2 litre baking dish with the sauce. Clean the board and knife. Cover with overlapping potato slices.

5. 5

   Melt the butter and brush it over the potatoes, then add the remaining seasoning. Bake for 35–40 minutes until golden and bubbling. Probe several sausage pieces and the centre of the filling: they must be piping hot, have no pink and reach 70°C for 2 minutes.

6. 6

   Let the hotpot stand for 5 minutes before serving. Check that the potatoes are tender all the way through.