WE HAVE a great mix of European and North African flavours this week, with a traditional Moroccan recipe for Venison Tagine and some great Swiss pasta to accompany it.

We start with Spatzle– a traditional type of egg pasta typical of Swiss, Hungarian and German cuisine, usually served with game.

To make four portions, you will need three medium-sized eggs; 200g plain flour; 100ml milk; two tablespoons cream.

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Gradually beat the flour into the eggs with a wooden spoon, adding the milk bit by bit until you have a smooth batter, then stir in the cream. Make sure the batter doesn’t turn out to be too runny – if it does, add a bit more flour to thicken it.

Bring a large pan of boiling salted water to the boil and rest a colander on top. Now pour in the spatzle batter and using the back of a ladle push the batter through the holes of the colander to create short lengths of pasta. Cook the spatzle strings for about two minutes, lift out with a slotted spoon onto a clean tea towel and leave to drain.

Melt a small amount of butter into a saucepan (large enough for the spatzle) and add one crushed garlic clove. Stir a little and, when foaming, add the spatzle and fry until they turn slightly pale yellow. Add some chopped fresh parsley and serve with the venison tagine.

“Tagine” is the name for both the dish and the Moroccan earthenware vessel in which the dish is traditionally cooked.

There are numerous variations of this recipe, this is a fairly straightforward and easy-to-prepare version.

These quantities make four portions.

You will need 40g unsalted butter; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tsp ground ginger; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 small white onion, finely chopped; handful chopped fresh coriander leaves; 1.2k diced (about 3cm cubes) venison; 400g stoned prunes, soaked in cold water, preferably overnight; 2 tablespoons of runny honey; sea salt and black pepper; a pinch of saffron threads; 180g whole blanched almonds, roasted in the oven until golden.

If you don’t like prunes, apricots are also perfect for this recipe!

Put the butter and olive oil into a large saucepan over a medium to high heat, and when the butter starts to foam, add the ginger, ½ tsp black pepper, the cinnamon and onion. Fry for 30 seconds, then add the venison and stir well for a minute or two so it is coated in the spice mixture. Cover the meat with water and sprinkle in the saffron, bring to the boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Add half the prunes or apricots (drained), and cook for 1½ hours, until the meat just begins to become tender and juicy. Add the remaining prunes along with the honey and some salt and pepper. Simmer for a further 30 minutes, or until the venison is tender and the liquid has thickened and reduced.

Serve with the spaztle, whole almonds and fresh coriander sprinkled on top.