Butterflied leg of venison with tahini sauce is fantastic for larger gatherings. Make sure, once you have butterflied the leg, that each piece is of approximately the same thickness in order to cook it evenly; you can always make a few careful slits in the meat to even it out for cooking. They are delicious to eat and there is nothing simpler and more tasty than a butterflied leg of venison thrown on to the barbecue.

BUTTERFLIED LEG OF VENISON WITH TAHINI SAUCE

Serves 8
■ 1 leg of butterflied roe deer split into the three muscles

For the marinade
■ 1 small white onion, peeled
■ 2 garlic cloves, peeled
■ 1 tbs crushed cardamom seeds
■ 1 tbs ground turmeric
■ 2 tbs olive oil

For the tahini sauce
■ 3 tbs tahini (sesame seed paste)
■ 1 garlic clove, crushed
■ 1 tsp olive oil
■ Water
■ 1 pinch dried chilli flakes

First, make the tahini sauce. Place the tahini in a bowl and whisk it with the crushed garlic and the olive oil. Then slowly whisk in enough water to give the sauce the consistency of double cream. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of dried chilli flakes and put aside until you need it.

Cooking on a BBQ helps create a smokey flavour and really strengthens the flavours.

To make the marinade, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor and season with salt and pepper. Smear the marinade on to the three leg muscles and leave the venison covered in the fridge for an hour.

Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before you want to cook it. Grill it on a hot BBQ (resisting the temp-tation to turn the meat too many times) for about eight minutes each side; I like to keep it on the rare side of medium. Leave to rest for five minutes then serve in thin slices with the tahini sauce.