Roast Partridge with Lentils, Sausage & Kale

Serves 4 

4 x oven-ready partridges (ask your butcher to prepare them for you)

100g butter, softened, plus extra for the kale

1 tbsp olive oil

4 good-quality pork sausages (about 280g total weight)

1 onion, finely diced

80g bacon lardons

½ carrot, finely diced

½ leek, washed and diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 celery stick, finely diced

¼ celeriac (about 200g), peeled and diced

175g puy lentils, rinsed and drained

500ml water

300ml chicken bone broth

200g chestnut or girolle mushrooms

1.5 tbsp chopped parsley

1.5 tbsp chopped chives

500g kale, washed and tough stems removed

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.

Rub the partridges with about half the softened butter, season well and place in the oven. Roast for 25–30 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and leave to rest. 

Meanwhile, melt the oil and a tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat and brown the sausages, then remove from the pan. Add the onion and lardons to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Next add the carrot, leek, garlic, celery and celeriac and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the lentils with the water, stock and browned sausages and season well with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25–30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a frying pan and fry the whole mushrooms until soft all the way through and browned. Once cooked, add to the cooked lentils with the parsley and chives and stir through 

Add the kale to a pan with just the water clinging to its leaves. Cover and cook over a medium heat until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Drain well and toss with a little butter. 

Spoon the mushrooms, lentils and sausages into a serving dish, lay the partridges on the top and serve with buttered kale.