Fine food in the field
Looking to elevate your shoot lunches? Italian chef Valentino Gentile brings you some truly inspired game dishes, all cooked in the field.
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Beretta pheasant recipe
I will share my favourite pheasant recipe, called Beretta pheasant, a nod to the Italian manufacturer of the shotgun I used to shoot the pheasant I used to make this dish for the first time. It’s an Italian twist on a classic roast pheasant.
Ingredients
100g Parma ham
150g ricotta
1 tbsp thyme leaf, plus some sprigs
4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
2 oven-ready pheasants, washed and dried
150ml extra-dry vermouth or dry white wine
4 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Beretta pheasant recipe
This is a quick-to-make pheasant dish and keeps the mess in the kitchen to a minimum – something I definitely appreciate!
It is a great way to cook a whole bird, ensuring it remains moist, juicy and flavoursome.
Let's get started...
- First, heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7 or in the baking oven of a range.
- For this pheasant recipe, you will need to chop up some of the Parma ham, leaving 6 slices for later.
- Combine the ricotta, chopped Parma ham, thyme and parmesan with salt and pepper.
The pheasant...
- Take your two pheasants, ease the skin gently away from the breast meat of each bird and place the ricotta mix between the skin and the breast.
- This ricotta mix will prevent the birds from drying out. At this point, you can also add some thyme sprigs into the cavity to add flavour.
- Next, place the pheasants in a roasting tin and wrap the Parma ham around them.
- Season with pepper, then pour over the vermouth/white wine and drizzle with oil.
- Scatter the garlic cloves around the dish and thyme over the birds.
- Place the birds in the oven, to roast for 20 minutes, then turn down the heat to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and cook for a further 35-40 minutes.
- Make sure to baste every now and then with the pan juices.
- Remove from the oven once the Parma ham and pheasant brown nicely and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Serving Beretta pheasant
I place the pan juices in a gravy boat. This pheasant dish goes well with roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes and spinach.
To continue with the Italian theme, I recommend having a lovely glass (or two) of Barolo with this delicious dish.Â
Hungry for more?
You will find many more tasty recipes for pheasant, and other game, on Eat Game website.
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Marta Jacyna
Marta Jacyna is BASC’s communications officer. She is passionate about the countryside and enjoys deer stalking and foraging for food.
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