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Venison can scare people if they are not used to eating game, but trying it through eating it in a sausage is such a great way of giving it a go. The lentils suck up all of the flavours in the pan, the sausages stay fat and juicy, it's great value and would be a cracking dish to serve up at a dinner party making this one of the best one pot dishes I can think of.

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 venison sausages
150g panchetta cubetti
8 medium shallots, peeled and cut in half
2 carrots, cut into chunks
8 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
a sprig of rosemary
a few sprigs of thyme
1 teaspoon tomato puree
250g Puy or green lentils
300ml port
1 pint fresh chicken stock
1 teaspoon redcurrant jelly
½ a small bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a large casserole pan. Throw the sausages in and brown them all over. Remove from the pan then add in the panchetta. Fry the panchetta for a minute or two, then throw in the shallots and garlic. Fry for about 5 minutes or until the panchetta is golden and becoming crisp and the shallots, carrots and garlic cloves have some colour. For the last minute of cooking add in the chilli flakes and herbs. Add the tomato puree and cook for a further minute.

Pour in the lentils so they can infuse in all of the flavours, then cover with the Port and stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Add the sausages back to the pan over with a lid and let it simmer away for 30 minutes or until the lentils have drunk up most of the stock and have left a rich sauce. Stir in the redcurrant jelly and serve sprinkled with parsley.