Pheasant breast à l’orange with dried apricots & prosciutto

Pheasant breast à l’orange with dried apricots & prosciutto

This sophisticated recipe is full of bold and interesting flavours, perfect for a romantic evening in

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 2

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 10 - 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

Method

  1. Cut each pheasant in half across the middle, lengthways so that you have 4 thin slithers of breast. Cut the apricots in the same way. Lay out 3 overlapping slices of prosciutto or bacon and place a sprig of thyme on top. Pop a piece of breast on top of this and lay 3 pieces of apricot on top of the breast. Season with salt and pepper, then wrap the prosciutto tightly around the pheasant to form a parcel. Repeat with the remaining pheasant, prosciutto and apricot to make 4 parcels. You can make these the day before and chill overnight.
  2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high flame and add the butter and 1 tbsp oil. When the fats are sizzling, add the pheasant parcels and cook for 3-4 mins on each side until the prosciutto is crisp and golden. The heat from the pan will seal the prosciutto tightly around the pheasant breast.
  3. Pop the breasts onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 5-7 mins to finish cooking. Meanwhile, add the zest and juice from the 2 oranges, cinnamon, honey and soy to the pan juices and simmer to reduce until syrupy. Toss the watercress with the remaining oil and a squeeze of orange juice. Serve the pheasant parcels with the orange sauce, watercress and rice.
Try

Perfect wild rice

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Wash 140g mixed wild and basmati rice in cold water. Gently soften 2-3 finely chopped shallots and 1 finely chopped garlic clove in 25g butter in a small ovenproof pan, then add the rice and stir-fry for a few mins. Season with salt and pepper, add 400ml hot chicken stock and simmer, covered, over low heat, until almost all water is absorbed - about 10 mins. Cover with 2 old butter papers or buttered baking parchment and finish in the oven for 10 mins.

549 kcalories, protein 57g, carbohydrate 21g, fat 26 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 2g, sugar 21g, salt 6.51 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Moonie Gray

    23 November 2009

    Moonie Gray rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Sauce was nice but far to overpowering for the pheasant. Not in a hurry to try this again

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  • Binder photo carolmjj

    25 January 2010

    carolmjj rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Dr_Pips

    27 January 2010

    Dr_Pips rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Foodmonster

    14 September 2010

    Foodmonster rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have made this dish 3 times now and like it a lot. The orange sauce complements it so well. First time I used steaky bacon, which was a mistake - it's far too salty and thick and doesn't shrink around the pheasant as nicely as prosciutto. With prosciutto it looked picture perfect. You have to be quite careful not to overcook it as it goes dry. Last time I only put it in warm oven to stop it from going cold while I was plating up the rest.

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  • Binder photo Rosie Thorn

    19 November 2011

    Rosie Thorn commented on this recipe

    I've never eaten pheasant before let alone cooked it but a friend gave me a couple of pheasant breasts so I thought I should make the effort. This was really nice and very simple (once I'd managed to buy prosciutto). I found the sauce a little too orangey but that could just be my taste and the oranges were particularly juicy. All in all I'd recommend this recipe to anyone.

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  • Binder photo pattiemac

    11 January 2013

    pattiemac rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Love this receipe,very tasty but would leave out the thyme. The sauce is lovely.

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  • Binder photo Joyce

    03 February 2013

    Joyce rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This would make a nice dinner party dish as it looks very pretty and you can also make most of it ahead of time. Sauce was great. We had enough left over to serve with chicken the next day. Will give this try with chicken breasts rather than pheasant next time - sure it will work just as well. With the orange and cinnamon flavours, this felt quite Christmassy and I think this would be a nice alternative Christmas dinner main.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 2

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 10 - 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

Ingredients

FOR THE SAUCE

  • zest and juice 2 oranges
  • 1in cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground)
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
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549 kcalories, protein 57g, carbohydrate 21g, fat 26 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 2g, sugar 21g, salt 6.51 g

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