Partridge breasts with pears in puff pastry
Thanks to the British Game Alliance for creating a recipe that's perfect to serve when there's a large group of people - for example at a shoot lunch. It makes a light main course or a generous starter.
This recipe using partridge breasts is impressive – but is actually very straightforward to make. Don’t be put off by the puff pastry – you can buy it easily in the supermarket ready rolled. The pear and port marinade gives a rich depth to the flavour.
Partridge breasts with pears in puff pastry
Ingredients
- Puff pastry cut into 13cm squares
- 12 partridge breasts
- 6 ripe dessert pears
- 375 ml port
- Salt and black pepper
- Small bunch of fresh sage with stalks removed
- 12 strings of redcurrants (optional)
- 6 tbsp redcurrant jelly
- Beaten egg to glaze
Method
- Turn oven on to 200°C (400° F – gas 6)
- Place partridge breasts in a shallow dish (not metal) with the port, seasonings and a few of the sage leaves, roughly chopped – allow to marinade for 15 minutes.
- Peel, halve and core two pears and cut into 24 slices. Keep the remaining pears to one side.
- To assemble, lay half the pastry squares on the work surface, place two slices of pear side by side on each, then lay a marinaded partridge breast on top. Scatter with a little chopped sage and a few
redcurrants if using. Keep the marinade mixture handy. - Make parallel cuts in the centre of the remaining pastry squares but be careful to leave a border around edge of each, don’t cut right to the edge.
- Brush the borders of pastry around the partridge breasts with the beaten egg, top each with a slitted pastry square, press edges firmly together to seal, knock up edges and brush each with beaten egg.
- Bake for 15 -20 minutes until pastry is risen and golden brown.
- Meanwhile, peel the remaining pears, core and slice.
- Heat the port marinade mixture and the redcurrant jelly together in a pan and gently cook the pear slices until just tender.
- Remove from the pan and serve the pear slices hot with the partridge puffs.