We were given a large frozen pheasant the other day (already dressed, so that’s one less messy job for me), and I spent a while riffling through my files to find a good recipe for it. I plumped for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Pot-roast pheasant with chorizo, butter beans and parsley. (For transatlantic readers, butter beans = lima beans). It’s a bit of an odd one to have for a mid-summer evening meal, especially as we have been having such hot weather lately, but it was delicious.
Yum.
Pot-roast pheasant with chorizo, butter beans and parsley by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Serves 4. Prep time 20 mins, cooking time 2 hrs, plus another 15-20 mins to rest.
- A knob of butter
- 3 tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
- 2 onions, finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 oven-ready pheasants (I used one large one)
- 300 g cooking chorizo, skin removed and cut into 2 cm chunks
- 400 ml white wine
- 500 ml vegetable, chicken or light pheasant stock
- 400 g tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 handful flat-leafed parsley, chopped
Directions
Place a large flameproof casserole (one that will accommodate both birds) over a medium heat and heat the butter with 1 tablespoon of the oil until foaming. Add the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and slightly golden.
Cooking the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves.
Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan. Season the pheasants all over with salt and pepper, add to the pan and brown on all sides over a high heat for 3–4 minutes.
Browning the pheasant.
Transfer to the casserole. Add the chorizo to the frying pan and fry for 3–4 minutes, until browned, then add to the casserole too.
Deglaze the frying pan by pouring in a little of the wine and stirring to scrape up any bits from the base of the pan. Add to the pheasants with the rest of the wine, the stock and the butter beans. The liquid doesn’t need to cover the birds but it should come at least halfway up.
Ready to go in the oven.
Bring to a simmer, cover and place in an oven preheated to 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1.
Cook for 2 hours, until the birds are tender.
Remove the pheasants from the casserole and leave to rest in a warm place for 15–20 minutes. If the chorizo has released a lot of fat, skim some off. Add the parsley and season to taste. Cut the birds into halves or quarters and divide between 4 warm plates. Spoon over the chorizo, beans and sauce, and serve with mash or lots of bread.
One note: I was working from the paper recipe I’d cut out of the Guardian; I see in the online recipe’s comments someone mentions he’s missed out the parsley, so I’ve added it above. The paper recipe also used dried, soaked butter beans rather than tinned ones, and has an optional pig’s trotter.