Truffled ballotine of Pheasant
Ingredients for the truffled pheasant ballotine:
- 4 skinless pheasant breasts
- 4 1cm-thick strips of brie
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- Black pepper
- 1 truffle
- 12 slices of prosciutto ham
Method for the truffled pheasant ballotine:
- Lay the pheasant breast between a sheet of cling film on a chopping board and bash with a rolling pin to flatten it out.
- Place the brie in the centre of the breast in line with the grain of the meat and sprinkle with thyme and a few twists of black pepper.
- Take your truffle and, using a microplane grater, grate a generous amount of truffle over the brie. Grating the truffle exposes a lot more surface area and enhances the aroma and flavour of the truffle.
- Pull out a length of cling film, lay it on a flat surface and lay out three slices of prosciutto in the centre at one end, making sure they overlap slightly.
- Place the pheasant breast over the top of the prosciutto, fold up the sides of the pheasant into a parcel and then fold over the prosciutto. Fold over the nearest end of the cling film and roll up the ballotine nice and tight, a bit like making sushi rolls.
- Once rolled, twist one end, again, nice and tight, expel any trapped air at the other end and then twist that end until you have a firm-looking sausage. Repeat with the other three breasts.
- To cook, bring a pan of water to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer. Place the ballotines in the pan and cook for 10 minutes, remove and allow to rest for a couple of minutes before unwrapping them and slicing into three sections about 4cm thick.
Hunter Gather Cook is a cookery and foraging school based in the heart of a woodland farm in East Sussex. They specialise in game butchery, wild cocktails and outdoor cookery classes, in the treehouse and around a roaring fire. The treehouse is set in 40 acres of stunning mixed woodland and offers a wealth of wild plants, fungi, fish and game. The woodland supplies the treehouse with the freshest most flavoursome ingredients and plenty of activities to keep the most discerning visitors captivated.
