Pancetta, Chestnut and Sage Stuffed Pheasant with Roast Vegetables

Stuffed roast pheasant with carrots and potatoes

Pancetta, Chestnut and Sage Stuffed Pheasant with Roast Vegetables

I like to roast pheasant whole and stuff it with my favorite kind of stuffing: cubes of milk-soaked day-old country bread, lots of sage, pancetta, and chestnuts. It's simple and delicious.Pheasants weigh anywhere from 2 to 4 pounds and a 2 pound pheasant – that's 1 kg - will offer a generous portion to two people. If you're serving lots of other dishes with your pheasant meal, then a 2 pound pheasant will be enough for four people to have a taste.

I like to roast pheasant with something tasty alongside and that's usually potatoes, carrots, and onion (often green onions). Parsnips are also a great choice. Since I have an abundance of butternut squash from my garden that's another tasty addition to serve with pheasant. It's particularly delicious when it's roasted and then mashed with lots of butter.

Course Main Course, meat

Cuisine international, Italian

Keyword pheasant

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 15

Servings

Calories 1506kcal

Ingredients

For the pheasant

1 ½ kilogram pheasant
15 Sage leaves, fresh
100 grams butter
6 carrots, medium, peeled and quartered
4 potatoes, medium, peeled and quartered
2 onions, medium, peeled and quartered
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices bacon

For the stuffing

80 grams day-old country bread, cubed (about 3 slices)
⅓ cup milk, to soak the bread
70 grams cubed pancetta, cooked until crisp and fat discarded
100 grams chestnuts, peeled and cooked, and crumbled
5 Sage leaves, fresh, minced

Metric - U.S. Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F and place the pheasant breast side up in a roasting pan, large enough to surround the pheasant with potatoes and vegetables.
Combine all the stuffing ingredients together in a bowl, then lightly stuff the pheasant.
Place any excess stuffing in a small roasting pan and bake separately.
Generously rub the pheasant with a mixture of butter and minced sage. You can also tuck some of the butter-sage mixture under the pheasant skin.
Place the pheasant breast side up in a roasting pan, large enough to surround the pheasant with potatoes and vegetables.
Toss the vegetables in the olive oil before placing in the roasting pan.
Before roasting generously rub the pheasant with a mixture of butter and minced sage.
Top the pheasant with slices of bacon so that the breast is covered.
Roast for about 45 minutes or until juice runs clear when the skin is pricked.
If the pheasant browns too much lightly cover with tinfoil.
All ovens are different. If you find the pheasant isn't browning sufficiently you may want to place it under the broiler until the pheasant and bacon are crispy and golden.
Bring to the table on your favorite serving platter surrounded by the roast vegetables.

Nutrition