• 5 hours
  • 10
  • Medium

Ingredients

  • 500ml game or chicken stock
  • A handful of dried ceps
  • 2 onions, peeled
  • 1 large carrot, peeled
  • 1 celery stick
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • Rapeseed or light olive oil, for cooking
  • 10 pheasant legs on the bone, thighs separated from drumsticks
  • 2 rashers of streaky bacon (smoked or unsmoked), chopped
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • ½ cinnamon stick
  • 1 tsp each chopped thyme and rosemary, or a good pinch of dried mixed herbs
  • 500ml tomato passata
  • A glass of dry cider
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 120°C/Gas mark ½.

Heat your stock to simmering point, then remove from the heat and drop in the dried ceps. Leave for about 15 minutes until they are tender, then fish them out and chop them finely. Strain the stock through a muslin-lined sieve or coffee filter paper to get rid of any grit; set aside.

Finely chop the onions, carrot, celery and garlic. You can do all this in a blender if you like, pulsing the veg until well chopped.

Place a large flameproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat and add a little oil.

Season the pheasant legs generously with salt and pepper and brown them in the hot pan, in batches, transferring the pheasant to a plate once it is coloured.

When all the pheasant is browned, add the bacon to the pan, followed by the chopped ceps, vegetables, garlic, spices and herbs.

Lower the heat and cook for around 10 minutes, to soften the vegetables.

Add the passata and cook for another 10 minutes, adjusting the seasoning as you go.

Now add the cider and stock and bring to a slow simmer.

Add the browned pheasant, put the lid on and put in the oven for four hours.

Take it out of the oven to check if the meat is tender; it should be just about falling off the bone by this point.

If, however, it’s still a little tough when you taste it, put it back in the oven and leave it for another hour.

Once it is cooked, leave to cool and then lift out the pheasant legs from the sauce.

Pick out the bones and sinews and return the meat to the sauce. Stir well and check the seasoning.

The ragu is now ready to serve, or you can keep it in the fridge or freezer for later use.

If serving the ragu with pasta, toss through and finish with a scattering of chopped parsley, freshly grated Parmesan and a trickle of extra virgin olive oil, if you like.

About The Author

Yorkshire's only dedicated food and drink website from Yorkshire Post Newspapers and its sister titles in the region. Showcasing everything Yorkshire has to offer from the fruits of the sea to the fields of the moors and beyond. It includes unbiased restaurant reviews by renowned food critics, recipes and 'how to' videos from some of Yorkshire's finest chefs and latest food and drink news and blogs from around our amazing county. And you can have your say either on the site or via our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Let us know what you think

comments