Ingredients:
For the Marinara Sauce:
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot grated
- 3 garlic cloves minced/grated
- 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomatoe purée
- 2 tbsp chopped basil
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
This will make enough for 4-6 servings, so you can either store it for another meal, or reduce the quantities of the ingredients by 1/2.
For the Pheasant:
- 1 pheasant breast per person
- Plain flour approx 4 tbsp, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 beaten egg
- Generous handful of breadcrumbs per breast seasoned with salt and pepper and some grated Parmesan
- Oil for shallow frying
- Mozzarella cheese
- Spaghetti
Method:
For the Marinara Sauce:
- Cook the onion, carrot and garlic in some oil until softened.
- Next, add in the tomato purée, and cook down for about a minute.
- Add in the remaining ingredients, apart from the seasoning, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and blend (this is optional, but will make the sauce much smoother). Transfer the mixture back into the pot and season to taste.
- Keep this warm whilst you prepare the pheasant
For the Pheasant:
- Remove the mini fillets from the pheasant breast and butterfly it (cut the breast in half, but not quite the whole way through)
- Lay a square of parchment paper on top of the breast, and even it out with a hammer or a rolling pin.
- Coat the pheasant in the seasoned flour, dredge in the egg, and then coat in the breadcrumb and parmesan mixture.
- These will take approximately 3-4 minutes per side to fry in a small amount of hot oil. At the same time, put the spaghetti on to boil.
- Once the pheasant is golden brown, remove from the pan and place on an oven-proof tray.
- In the middle of each breast, put a good spoonful of the sauce, and top with mozzarella cheese. Place these under a hot grill until the cheese is melted.
- Meanwhile, drain the spaghetti, and coat it in the marinara sauce.
- Plate up with more of the marinara sauce under the pheasant and a grating of Parmesan cheese on top.
