Meatballs recipe for 2 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has shallot, garlic clove, pheasant, breadcrumbs, lemon, natural yogurt, large egg, pistachio, flat-leaf parsley, nutmeg, olive oil, rosemary, orzo, baby spinach, creme fraiche and parmesan.
Pheasant meatballs with orzo
Course: Meatballs
Servings
2
servings
Prep time
25 mins
Ingredients
- Flat Leaf Parsley: 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Garlic Clove: 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- Parmesan: 20g finely grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
- Olive Oil: 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- Natural Yogurt: 1 tbsp natural yogurt
- Orzo: 200g orzo
- Lemon: zest and juice 1 lemon
- Baby Spinach: 80g baby spinach leaves
- Creme Fraiche: 4 tbsp creme fraiche
- Shallot: 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- Rosemary: 2 rosemary sprigs
- Nutmeg: small grating nutmeg
- Large Egg: 1 large egg
- Pistachio: 2 tbsp pistachio nuts, chopped
- Breadcrumbs: 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- Pheasant: 150g leftover pheasant meat picked from the carcass (including skin and fat)
Directions
- To make the meatballs, put the shallot, garlic and pheasant into a blender and process until finely chopped. Add the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and juice, yogurt and egg and blitz once more, until the mixture is clumping together, then tip into a bowl. Add the pistachios and parsley, stir well and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Oil your hands and roll the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs. Put in the fridge to chill.
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. In a heavy-bottomed, non-stick frying pan or skillet, heat the olive oil and rosemary, and stir to infuse the oil, then add the meatballs and fry for 4-5 mins, turning them carefully to brown all over. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, retaining the rosemary oil, and transfer the meatballs to a roasting tin. Put them in the oven for 10 mins to heat through while you cook the pasta.
- Cook the orzo following pack instructions, and drain when al dente, reserving some of the water. Remove the sprigs of rosemary from the olive oil in the frying pan and tip in the pasta along with the spinach, stirring to coat in the infused oil. Warm gently over a low heat then stir in the creme fraiche and Parmesan, plus a little pasta water (or stock, if you have it). Season and divide between plates, topping with the meatballs. Serve with extra Parmesan, if you like.