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Wild Northumbrian pheasant with butternut squash and toasted
almond stuffing
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Serves
4
(This
recipe can be prepared the day before and refrigerated overnight.)
Pheasant
2 whole pheasants (legs removed and kept to one side)
8 slices of Parma ham
1 handful of sage leaves, chopped
1 block of butter (at room temperature)
Salt & pepper
Pot
roasted legs (and gravy)
4 legs (from the birds above)
Salt & pepper
10 small shallots, peeled and left whole
200ml Marsala
1pt good chicken stock
1 bulb of garlic, separate into cloves, but leave the skin on
1 stick of fresh rosemary
Small handful of fresh thyme
A glass of red wine, Port or Marsala for deglazing the pheasant
roasting tin.
Butternut
squash stuffing with toasted almonds
2 butternut squash, sliced lengthways into quarters, skin on but
deseeded
2 red onions, sliced thinly
A good glug of olive oil
Handful of sage leaves
1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
1 cup of toasted , flaked almonds
1 cup of grated fresh Parmesan
125g butter
125ml Amaretto
To
cook the legs (and start the gravy):
Preheat
the oven to 150°C.
Season
the pheasant legs with salt & pepper and pan fry until brown.
Place in a casserole dish and set aside.
Using
the same pan, add the Marsala to deglaze the pan. Bring the Marsala
to the boil and then pour this over the pheasant legs.
Add
the stock, garlic cloves, shallots and herbs to the casserole dish,
and season with a little salt & pepper.
Put
a lid on the casserole dish and cook in the oven for 2 hours. When
ready the meat should fall off the bone. Leave to cool.
Whilst
the legs are cooking ...
Prepare
the pheasant:
Combine the butter & sage leaves with a little salt &
pepper and divide into 4 portions.
Stuff
a portion of the butter mixture under the skin of each breast.
Layer
2 slices of Parma ham over each breast so that the skin is covered.
Apart from adding flavour this will help seal in the moisture.
Place
both birds in a roasting tin in the refrigerator until you are ready
to cook them.
Prepare
the stuffing:
Put the butternut squash onto a roasting tray and sprinkle over
the sage leaves, coat with the oil and season with salt & pepper.
Roast at 180°C until soft & squidgy.
Meanwhile
stew the onions in the butter and Amaretto over a low heat until
soft & sticky.
Once
cooled, remove the skins from the butternut squash and place in
a bowl.
Add the onions, sage, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and half of the almonds.
Mix well.
Place mixture in an oven dish and sprinkle over the remaining almonds.
Refrigerate until needed.
Preheat
the oven to 210°C.
Put
everything you prepared earlier into the oven (eg. the 2 pheasants,
the stuffing and the pheasant legs in their juices covered with
foil) for 45 minutes.
Baste
the main pheasant dish every 15 minutes (check after 30 mins).
Pheasant is best served slightly pink. Skewer the meat to check
whether it's cooked, at which point the juices should run clear.
Once
reheated, remove the pheasant legs from the liquid - this will form
the basis of the gravy.
Set
the meat aside, and keep warm, whilst making gravy.
To
make the gravy:
Remove the 2 birds from the roasting tin and put the tin on a medium
heat on the stove top.
Add a glass of red wine, Port or Marsala to deglaze the tin.
Then pour in the liquid saved from the pheasant legs, including
the shallots and garlic, and warm through.
Serve
the pheasant, stuffing and gravy with a selection of seasonal vegetables.
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