Spiced venison meatballs with passata matched with Crossroads Milestone Series Syrah 2012

Ingredients - serves three-four

• 500g venison mince
• ½ onion, diced and fried
• 20g panko soaked in 50ml milk
• 25g Dijon mustard'
• 12ml worcestershire sauce
• 6g parmesan
• sea salt
• black pepper

Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 5 shitake mushrooms, diced
• 25ml red wine vinegar
• 175 ml red wine
• tsp sugar
• 300ml passata

Garnish:

• Parmesan
• Black pepper
  
• Parsley, chopped
  
• Breadcrumbs, fried in butter

 

Master tip:

Always fry a little piece of the meatball mix once you have made them to check the taste. Make sure they are seasoned well otherwise the whole dish will be bland. Use plenty of black pepper as it works well against the Syrah.

1. For the meatballs combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix thoroughly and then season to taste. Roll into golf ball sized balls. 
2. To make the sauce place the olive oil in a wide base pan, add the crushed garlic, shallot and mushroom and cook down. Then add the red wine vinegar and reduce to nothing, add the red wine and redue by half then the passata and stew gently for 10-12 minutes. Adjust flavor with sugar then vinegar if necessary. 
3. Fry the meatballs gently in a pan until golden all over and almost cooked, drop them into the sauce and cook for a couple more minutes. 
4. Place in a serving bowl and finish with black pepper, shaved parmesan, parsley and fried breadcrumbs.