Ingredients

• 2 pheasants

• 5 medium beetroot
• Juice and zest of ½ orange
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Beetroot leaves, to serve

• ¼ loaf sourdough, cut into chunks
• 1 cup walnuts
• ½ bunch parsley, leaves chopped
• 1 egg
• Zest of ½ orange
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced into segments
• 125g speck, diced

• 150-200ml bottle vincotto
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 clove garlic

• 5 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 500ml milk
• 60ml cream
• 1 pear, peeled and diced
• 150ml verjuice

• 2 bunches dutch carrots, scrubbed and tops trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon verjuice
• 60g pine nuts
• ½ bunch parsley leaves

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

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Method

Preparation: 40 minutes
Cooking: 1 hour 30 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 220C fan-forced.

2. For beetroot salad, place unpeeled beetroot in the centre of a large piece of foil on a baking tray. Add zest, juice, oil and salt and wrap in foil. Bake for 1-1¼ hour or until tender.

3. For stuffing, place sourdough in processor. Process until coarse breadcrumbs, transfer to a bowl. Place walnuts in same food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add walnuts to breadcrumbs along with parsley, eggs, zest, chopped orange segments and speck. Mix to combine. Season to taste.

4. For the glaze, combine the vincotto, juice and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, simmer for 5-10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

5. Stuff pheasants with walnut stuffing and secure legs with string. Pan fry pheasants until golden all over. Transfer to a roasting tray, brush with glaze and bake at 220C for 20-25 minutes until cooked and the juices run clear. Pheasant will continue to cook while resting. Re-heat remaining glaze until it boils, adding a little water if it needs thinning. Glaze pheasant with hot glaze, cover loosely with foil and rest for 10-15 minutes, breast side down.

6. For parsnip mash, place parsnips, milk and cream in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, simmer until tender, drain, reserving liquid. Mash roughly, using a little of the cooking liquid to thin if desired, season to taste. Cook pear in verjuice for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Stir through parsnip mash.

7. For roast carrots, place in a roasting tray with oil, butter, verjuice and a pinch of salt. Roast at 200C fan-forced until tender. Stir through a little extra verjuice with parsley, pine nuts and a pinch of salt if needed.

8. For red wine vinaigrette, whisk oil and vinegar until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

9. To serve, peel beetroot and slice into wedges, stir through torn beetroot leaves, dress with vinaigrette and season to taste. Carve pheasant into portions and serve with serve with parsnip mash and roast carrots.