Recipe: Pheasant and chestnut soup with soft spices by Shaun Hill

25 October 2016
Recipe: Pheasant and chestnut soup with soft spices by Shaun Hill

A degree of sweetness suits gamey flavours. The unsweetened chestnuts and aromatic rather than fiery spices give a subtle softness to the finished dish.

Serves 6

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1tsp each ground cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg and coriander
  • 1 whole pheasant
  • 25g cooked, unsweetened chestnuts, peeled
  • 1.5l litres hot chicken stock
  • 1tbs lemon juice
  • 2tbs double cream
  • 2tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Salt

Fry the onion and carrot in a little oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan or casserole pot, then stir in the spices.

Add the pheasant and let it colour all over. Add the chestnuts and stock, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and allow to simmer very gently until completely cooked. This will take about 30 minutes.

Carefully lift out the bird, tipping it so that all the liquor in the central cavity returns to the pot rather than scalds your fingers.

When it is just cool enough to handle, cut away all the meat from the bird. Keep a little diced breast meat for the finished soup, but return the rest to the pot.

Blend the soup in a liquidiser, and if necessary, strain through a coarse sieve.

Add the lemon juice, cream and a little salt, then stir in the parsley and serve with the smarter-looking pheasant dice you kept aside.

Recipe taken from Salt is Essential by Shaun Hill (reviewed here). Photography by Tamin Jones

TagsChef and Recipes
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking