Roe deer fillet with coppa, new potatoes, spring onion and salsa verde

In Denmark, the month of May is when delicious vegetables start to emerge from the soil. There are spring onions, new potatoes and much else besides. And they go perfectly with the prize from a successful roe deer hunt. So here is our take on a dish that shows all these ingredients to their absolute best.

We are also happy to stray a little from our Nordic roots and adopt some Italian goodness. So, where others might use bacon, we use coppa. Coppa is made in the same way as Parma ham, but with meat from the shoulder, which gives a deeper, sweeter and more refined flavour that goes very well with game.

Salsa verde

Salsa verde, the best salsa in the world!

This is a salsa that works with everything! Game, fish, pork, lamb, chicken, steak and grilled vegetables — you name it! It's the ultimate secret weapon that will lift your meal to new heights.

• 2 handfuls of broad-leaf parsley
• 1 handful of mint
• 1 handful of basil
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. capers
• 7 anchovies
• 1 clove of garlic
• the juice of one lemon
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Chop the herbs as finely as you can. It's easiest if you keep them separate and chop them individually.

Crush the garlic and anchovies with a little salt in a mortar. Add the herbs to the mortar and pour in olive oil until you have a pesto-like consistency.

Coarsely chop the capers and put them in the mortar with red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. Season with lemon juice, pepper and possibly a little salt.

Potatoes

• 500 g new potatoes
• 2 good handfuls of spring onions
• salt

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in salted water. If the potatoes are small and freshly dug, this won’t need long. Cook them so they retain some bite. Remove them from the water, place them in a bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Blanch the spring onions for 1 minute just before serving.

Meat

• a full saddle/fillet of roe deer
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 15 slices of coppa (replace with Parma ham, pancetta or bacon if you prefer)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 200 ml red wine
• 200 ml game, veal or chicken stock
• 50 g unsalted butter

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Cut the fillets from the bone. Remove all tendons and fat, leaving just pure meat. Place the fillets together and make some small incisions on the outside. Insert a slice of garlic and a few sprigs of rosemary into each cut as you would for a leg of lamb. Season the meat with salt and pepper.

Lay out the coppa slices on a cutting board in three rows of five slices each, so they overlap. Place the two fillets in the centre of the cutting board, fold the ham up around the meat, and secure with butcher's twine.

Take a frying pan or a roasting pan that can go on the hob. It's essential that the pan is big enough for the saddle. Put the pan on the hob at a high heat. Add a little oil to the pan and brown the meat all over, to give the coppa a nice golden colour. Add the red wine and put the pan in the oven.

After 5 minutes, turn the fillet and return the pan to the oven. Check the core temperature after 7 minutes. It should be 52-55 degrees C. If it's not there yet, give it a little longer. But check the temperature at regular intervals, since it can rise quickly towards the end. Once the roast has reached the right temperature, take it out, wrap it in tin foil and a clean tea towel. Let the roast rest for 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime, make a quick game sauce. Put the roasting pan on the hob and add your game stock. Reduce the moisture by two-thirds. Add the butter and whisk it into the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the saddle from the foil and add any meat juices to the sauce. Cut the meat into 2 cm thick slices. Serve 2 slices per person with new potatoes, spring onions, a little sauce and a spoonful of salsa verde.