Pot Roast Pheasant Ragu Recipes

POT-ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Start with the potatoes. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Trim the wider side off the potato and cut into 2 thick slices, so each side sits flat in the pan. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan and fry the bacon for 2 mins until crisp. Push the bacon aside; then, over a very high heat, brown the potato slices really well for about 3 mins on each side.
• Add the thyme, splash in the stock and place in the oven while you cook the pheasant.
• Season the pheasant really well. Heat the oil in a casserole dish and add the pheasant pieces. Spend about 10 mins making sure the meat is well coloured on all sides, using tongs to turn the pieces when needed.
• Remove the meat from the dish and add a splash more oil. Sizzle the bacon for 1 min, then add all the vegetables and the thyme. Turn up the heat and brown the vegetables really well. Nestle the legs amongst the vegetables and sit the breast on top. Place in the oven, uncovered, to roast for 25 mins.
• Remove the dish from oven, lift out the breast and leave somewhere warm to rest. Pour the chicken stock over the legs and return to the oven for 20 mins to braise. Meanwhile, gently reheat the carrot purée in a pan, stirring in a touch of butter.
• Remove the legs from the dish and set aside. Use a potato masher to squash the veg into the sauce to thicken. Season well and strain the sauce into a bowl. Remove the potatoes from the oven, and finely chop the bacon from the potato pan into small bits - you are now ready to carve the pheasant and plate up.
• Neatly cut each breast away from the carcass. Slice into 2 and cut each leg through the joint into 2 pieces. Cut each potato in half on an angle. Smear a large spoonful of carrot purée along one side of the plate. Lean the pheasant pieces against each other and lay a piece of potato alongside. Scatter the pheasant breast with the chopped bacon, spoon over the sauce and serve.

POT-ROASTED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the pheasants with the flour, then heat the oil in a large flameproof dish. Brown the pheasants all over, then remove from the dish.
• In the same dish, fry the bacon, vegetables, garlic and herbs with 1 tbsp of the dusting flour for 5 mins, until the vegetables start to colour. Put the pheasants and any resting juices back in the dish, pour on the Marsala, wine and stock, add the sugar, then cover and cook for 1 hr 30 mins - 1 hr 50 mins or until the leg meat easily comes away from the bone. Serve with bread sauce.

ROAST PHEASANT WITH WILD MUSHROOM, POTATO & BACON RAGOUT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Pour about 200ml of hot water from the kettle over the mushrooms and leave to soak for 20 mins. Drain, reserving the liquid. Squeeze any excess liquid from the mushrooms, but keep them whole.
• Generously season the pheasant all over. Heat the sunflower oil in a shallow flameproof dish and slowly brown the legs, turning frequently, for 20 mins. Brown the breast for a further 10 mins, then remove from the dish. Add the bacon to the dish and sizzle until starting to crisp. Throw in the potatoes, increase the heat and fry with the bacon until brown around the edges. Add the mushrooms and fry to heat through. Pour in the wine, sizzle for a moment, and pour over the reserved mushroom liquid, keeping the last drop back as it may be gritty. Nestle the pheasant, breast-side up, in the middle of the dish and roast in the oven for 25 mins.
• Remove from the oven, lift the pheasant onto a plate, cover loosely with foil, then leave to rest for about 15 mins. Tip any resting juices into the potatoes, stir in the parsley, then transfer everything into a serving dish. Put the watercress in a bowl and toss with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with the potato ragout and the pheasant ready to carve.

PHEASANT POT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bring broth to a boil in a pot; add pheasant, carrots, and celery and boil until pheasant is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add peas to broth and boil for 1 minute. Drain and reserve broth from pot.
• Melt butter in a separate pot over medium heat; cook and stir onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Gradually stir flour into butter until smooth. Pour reserved broth and milk into flour mixture, stirring constantly. Add salt, rosemary, pepper, sage, and celery seed to broth mixture and simmer over medium-low heat until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Press 1 pie crust into a pie plate and lightly brush with egg white.
• Bake crust in the oven until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
• Spoon about 1/4 of the pheasant-vegetable mixture into the baked pie crust. Mix remaining pheasant-vegetable mixture into the sauce; pour into baked pie crust. Place second crust on top of the filling, pinching the edges together to form a seal. Cut your initials into the top crust for ventilation.
• Bake in the oven until top is golden brown, about 40 minutes.

POT-ROAST PHEASANT WITH CIDER & BACON

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Melt the butter in a large non-stick flameproof dish. Season the pheasants, add to the dish and brown on all sides. Remove from the dish and set aside.
• Add the bacon, onion, celery and sage to the dish and cook for 10 mins until the onion is soft and the bacon is crisp. Carefully pour off any excess fat.
• Return the pheasants to the dish and scatter over the apples. Pour over the cider and the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 25 mins until the birds are cooked through.
• Remove the birds from the dish and keep warm. Return dish to the hob over a high heat. Let the liquid bubble until reduced by half, then add the cabbage, cover with a lid and cook for 3 mins. Add the cream, check the seasoning, and continue cooking for 1 min more. Serve the pheasant on top of the cabbage mixture with some mashed potato, if you like.

LEFTOVER POT ROAST RAGU WITH PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil.
• While the water boils, add reserved pot roast liquid and red wine to a pot. Bring to a boil and reduce.
• Once water is boiling, add salt (water should be salty like the sea!) and fettuccine and cook according to package direction for al dente.
• Whisk beef stock and flour to create a slurry.
• Add slurry and tomato sauce to your reduction, whisk to avoid lumps. Cook until thickened, about two minutes.
• Add shredded leftover to pot roast to sauce and cook until heated through, about one minute. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Remove from heat.
• Drain pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta water.
• Add pasta, sauce, and reserved water back to the large pot. Cook over medium heat so that the pasta begins to absorb the sauce, about 2-3 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Add cheese and parsley. Stir to combine.
• Serve and enjoy!