Taste Madeira Foie gras filled ravioli with a gingered apricots and figs sauce This signature entreé comes from Casa Velha do Palheiro, a Relais & Chateaux country house hotel. It was recently served to HRH Prince Edward and HRH The Countess of Wessex during the Duke of Edinburgh Cup. Designed by Executive Chef Kenneth Suter, it is a great recipe to try at home: classical yet festive, a warming start to a winter feast.

Casa Velha do Palheiro is found on the ‘garden island’ of Madeira, set in its own spacious grounds. With just 37 guest bedrooms it offers the intimacy of a private house, but with the facilities of a five-star hotel, easily attaining the high standards demanded by its Relais & Chateaux association.

Ingredients For 8 people Ravioli dough: 500g Flour 3 Eggs 50g Vegetable Oil 125ml Water 1tsp Cinnamon 10g Salt Foie gras filling: 1 Foie gras (400-500grams) 100ml Madeira wine (Malmsey-sweet) 3g Sea salt 2g Pepper Sauce: 50g dried apricots (diced) 50g dried figs (diced) 20g fresh ginger (diced) 200ml Madeira wine (Bual semi-sweet) 800ml Demi glace 150g Cream Tabasco

Kenneth Suter’s passion for cuisine has taken him on a 20 year journey around the World. He trained in classical French cuisine in the USA, spent a year in Japan, then returned to continue his studies in Hawaii. Travelling to France, he became the first “non-French” Professeur de Cuisine Française at Lycée Professional Albert Bayet in Tours. He is now executive chef at the Casa Velha do Palheiro.

Preparation Soak the foie gras in water for two hours. Gently separate the stringy nerve that is centrally found in the two lobes (it doesn’t matter if the foie is separated in pieces). Reconstruct the foie by piecing together the fragments like a jigsaw flat in a receptacle, season with salt, pepper, cinnamon and the Bual wine and let it marinate, covered, in the refrigerator overnight. Mix all the ravioli dough ingredients together in a bowl and form into a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for one hour. Dice the dried fruits and marinade in Bual wine for an hour or two. Gently heat the fruits and diced ginger in a heavy-bottomed pan and simmer together for two or three minutes, add the demi glace, bring to the boil and add the cream. Continue to boil for a further minute then put to one side.

Roll out half of the ravioli dough as thinly as possible on a lightly floured surface and brush with a whole beaten egg. Shape 20g balls of the marinated foie gras and place them intermittently along the dough, two fingers apart from each other. Cover with the other half of dough, similarly rolled out, and carefully press down between each parcel to force out any air. Cut each ravioli with a round or square cutter. Poach the raviolis in boiling salted water for no more than 1 minute and immediately refresh them in a bowl of iced water, placing them when cold onto a water absorbent kitchen towel. The secret to this dish is to place the par-cooked raviolis in the hot sauce to reheat gently for no more then 1 minute. The ravioli will absorb the flavour of the gingered sauce and are ready to serve.

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