Here’s a question for you. What is your favorite way to cook a venison roast? Ok, got it? Now, how often do you cook that meal during the summertime? If you were raised like me, then roasts are a great ingredient for slow cooker meals, served over noodles, with a rich and hearty sauce. Absolutely delicious and perfect for cold weather and deer camp, but far from a summer meal. At this point during the year, my “prime” cuts of meat are usually gone(although I do tend to save a backstrap for a special occasion) and that leaves me with some larger roasts. So when you’re looking to welcome the summer season with a fresh wild game meal and only have a roast left, know that you can leave the slow cooker in the closet and can still make a great dish!
If you take some of your larger roasts out of the freezer, allow them to thaw and slice them into thin cutlets, you will be left with a completely different ingredient to make something with. Since they’re thinly sliced, they don’t take long to absorb a marinade and they also cook in a flash. Before I go any further, I recently added a small meat slicer to my kitchen gadget collection and although it’s not necessary for this recipe, it was super helpful to slice cutlets in just a couple of minutes.
This recipe is simple to prepare and has all of the powerful flavors that a summer dish should have.
Marinated Venison Chimichurri Sandwiches
Ingredients:
3 pounds of thinly sliced roast, about ¼ of an inch
4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
6-8 crusty sandwich rolls
Ingredients for the marinade and chimichurri are below.
The Marinade
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of fresh cracked pepper
Juice of 1 lime
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
In a small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Place the sliced venison into a Ziploc bag and add the spice mix, lime juice and olive oil. Seal the bag and make sure that all of the meat gets well seasoned before placing in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Chimichurri
Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons of chopped shallot
½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup of chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup of red wine vinegar
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, cover and let chill in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use. This can be made a day ahead, the longer it sits, the better it gets!
Cooking and Assembly
Once the venison has had a chance to marinate for a couple of hours, take the bag out of the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. I like to cook the meat in a large cast iron skillet over an open fire. It allows me to get the pan screaming hot and pulls great flavor from the coal. However, you can cook this on your stovetop, just make sure to have some windows open and that vent running, as things can get smokey in a hurry.
Once your pan is good and hot, sear the venison on both sides. Depending on how thin your cutlets are, these should cook in just a couple of minutes. Once cooked, let the meat rest. Next, slice your rolls open lengthwise and get ready for assembly. Layer the venison on the roll and top with the mozzarella. Flip on your oven broiler and place under the heat until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Once melted, add a good helping of that chimichurri to the sandwich and enjoy. Don’t forget to leave some extra chimichurri for dipping on the side!
Ingredients
Directions
