Pheasant Pesto Pasta Food

JAMES BEARD'S PLEASANT PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until just tender. While pasta cooks, combine peas and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and stir until peas are thoroughly heated. Drain and set aside.
• Drain pasta, return to pot and toss with butter. Add peas, prosciutto and cream. Toss to mix well and to separate prosciutto strips. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add Parmesan to taste, and toss again. Serve piping hot, passing more Parmesan separately at the table.

PHEASANT PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the pheasant breasts into a baking dish, and pour in 3/4 cup white wine. Bake in the preheated oven until the pheasant is no longer pink in the center, about 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool, remove the meat from the bones, and cut into bite sized pieces.
• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the fettuccini, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion until it has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, spinach, and pheasant pieces. Cook until the mushrooms have softened, then pour in 1/2 cup of white wine, cover, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in the cream and pesto, and remove from the heat. Place the fettuccini in a serving bowl, pour the pheasant sauce over top, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.

PEASANT PASTA

Steps:

• Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan. Add sausage meat. Crumble sausage meat as it browns. Add chopped garlic to the pan. When all of the crumbles have browned evenly, deglaze the pan drippings using chicken or vegetable broth. Stir in crushed tomatoes and bring the sauce up to a bubble, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir cream into your sauce, this will blush the color and cut the acidity of the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir peas and basil into your sauce to combine. Toss hot drained penne rigate in pan with the sauce, then transfer pasta to serving bowl.

BASIL PESTO

Steps:

• Combine basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and olive oil in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add garlic, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. Pulse until mixture becomes smooth and blended.
• Pour mixture onto a large sheet of plastic wrap; roll into a tube shape and seal. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

FETTUCINE WITH PESTO, GREEN BEANS AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Blend basil, 1/4 cup oil, pine nuts, walnuts and garlic cloves in processor until finely chopped. Add grated Parmesan cheese. With machine running, gradually blend in remaining &§ cup oil. Set pesto aside.
• Cook green beans in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Using 4- to 5-inch-diameter strainer, transfer beans to large bowl. Return cooking water to boil. Add white potatoes and boil until tender, about 7 minutes. Remove potatoes with same strainer and transfer to bowl with beans. Return cooking water to boil. Add fettuccine to same pot. Boil until pasta is just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Return green beans, white potatoes and cooked pasta to pot. Add pesto and toss to coat. Gradually add enough reserved cooking water to coat pasta with moist sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.