Pot roast pheasant recipe

Pot roast pheasant makes a nice alternative to chicken and turkey and it’s under 500 calories per portion. 

For a special roast dinner with a twist, we think pheasant makes an excellent choice. You might think it’s expensive but it’s roughly the same as a quality chicken and one bird serves 2-3 adults. We’ve flavoured the birds with smoked bacon lardons but you can use pancetta instead if you like. 

Ingredients

• 200g smoked bacon lardons
• 1 tbsp oil
• A brace of oven-ready pheasant (a cock and a hen)
• 2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 4 celery sticks, chopped
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 300ml hot chicken stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée or ketchup
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A few parsley leaves

To serve:

• 400g small potatoes, steamed or roasted
• 2 leeks, trimmed and cut into chunks, roasted or fried in butter

Method

1. Set the oven to 160C (140C fan, Gas 3). Put the bacon and oil in a frying pan and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the birds to the pan and cook them for a few mins on each side to brown the breasts. Put them in a casserole dish. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon from the frying pan and add to the dish with the pheasant.
3. Add the onion to the frying pan and cook for a couple of mins until soft.
4. Add the garlic and celery and fry for 2-3 minutes, then pour in the tomatoes, stock, purée, Worcestershire sauce and sugar. Bring to the boil, season well and spoon into the casserole. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
5. Take the lid off, baste the pheasants and cook for another 15-25 minutes, until the meat is tender.
6. Leave for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with parsley leaves and serve with potatoes and leeks.

Top tips for making this pot roast pheasant

If you don’t want to use game, cook this recipe with a 1.5kg chicken, adding an extra 30-40 mins cooking time.

Le Creuset Noel Signature Cast Iron Round Casserole - View at John Lewis & Partners 

This 24cm casserole dish is the perfect size for cooking our pot roast pheasant. We love the festive Noel design and the deep green colour. It can be washed in the dishwasher but to preserve the quality, we recommend hand washing it. 

For more game inspiration try our pheasant in cider sauce. If you want another alternative main, this marmalade-roasted duck is delicious and our roast rabbit with root veg is a great choice too.