Parmesan Pasta with Pheasant Meatballs

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Prep Time: 10 min - Cook Time: 30 min

My wife loves pasta!! If it was up to her, we'd eat it every night of the week. Needless to say, we have it for dinner more nights than not. If she got her way, we'd eat the same three pasta dishes every week ... Pasta Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, Bucatini All'amatriciana. All three are classic Italian dishes ... She's got good taste. Of course, we'll have some of our other favorites, like Spaghetti, Penne Pasta with Pesto and Farfalle with Vodka Sauce. Now, I'm not complaining about the pasta, I get feed really well, but I've been thinking about doing something different for a while. I've actually changed my mind on this recipe several times, including on the day I finally decided to make it. We've been growing our own Tomatoes and Basil all summer, I had been wanting to do my own Spaghetti recipe using the things we grew in the backyard, but somehow that project morphed into this Parmesan Pasta dish with Pheasant Meatballs.

I actually made several different versions of these pheasant meatballs before I decided on these. Some were made with just ground pheasant and other I mixed in some ground pork. Pheasant meatballs can end up really dry, the added pork gives it some extra fat, that the pheasant is missing. I also added some ground fennel seeds to give it that classic Italian sausage kind of taste. You can also add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes for some added kick.

We actually made this two nights in a row, it was that good, although we tweaked the recipe some the second night. Essentially it was the same, with just a few minor changes to the process.


 

Ingredients



Pheasant Meatballs


  1 lbs Ground Pheasant meat
  1/2 lbs Ground Pork
  1/2 cup(s) Plain Breadcrumbs
  1/2 cup(s) Parmesan Cheese, grated
  1/4 cup(s) Dry White Wine
  1 Egg
  1/2 tsp Ground White Pepper
  1/2 tsp Ground Fennel Seeds
  1 Bunch Fresh Parsley, Chopped
  1 tsp Kosher Salt
   Italian Seasoning

Pasta


  16 oz Whole Wheat Spaghetti Pasta
  3 Small Shallots, Diced
  8 clove(s) Garlic, chopped
  1 cup(s) Parmesan Cheese, grated
  3/4 cup(s) Dry White Wine
  8 tbsp Butter, unsalted
  1 tbsp Olive Oil
  1 Bunch Fresh Parsley, Chopped
  1 Lemon, juiced
   Red Pepper Flakes


Instructions


Pheasant Meatballs


Step #1 Preheeat Oven to 425 degrees. Chop Parsley and shred Parmesan Cheese




Step #2 Lightly ground fennel seeds in mortar



Step #3 Add meat to a mixing bowl, then add breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, white pepper, ground fennel and Salt.



Step #4 Pour in White Wine and one egg



Step #5 Mix with hands to combine. If it's still wet, mix in some more breadcrumbs.




Step #6 Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out mixture and form into equal size balls using some type of spoon or scoop ensure uniformity.



Step #7 Place meatballs on parchment paper.



Step #8 Sprinkle a little Italian seasoning over the top of the meatballs



Step #9 Place in oven 10-15 minutes. Internal temperature should be 160-165.





Parmesan Pasta


Step #1 Boil a large pot of water. When boiling add generous amount of salt, 2 heaping palmfuls.



Step #2 While your water is coming to a boiling, chop Parsley and the dice Shallots and Garlic, then grate Parmesan cheese.



Step #3 Add Pasta to boiling water and cook 8 - 10 minutes or per the instructions of the pasta you use. Meanwhile, in large skillet at 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil, allow to warm on medium high heat.




Step #4 Added Shallots and cook for 3-4 minutes



Step #5 Added garlic cook for 1 minute



Step #6 Added 6 more tsp of Butter and the White Wine. Let simmer a minute.



Step #7 Your pasta should be just about done. Using thongs, remove cooked pasta straight to skillet with sauce. Then mix to coat pasta with sauce.




Step #8 Latte 1 cup of boiling Pasta water into skillet.



Step #9 Slowly add Parmesan Cheese, a little bit at a time, whisking the whole time. Add it all at once might cause it to clump together.



Step #10 Sprinkle with chopped parsley and red pepper flakes, then squeeze the juice from one lemon into dish.



Step #11 Serve in pasta bowl with fresh cut lemon to squeeze over dish and more Parmesan Cheese.




Recipe Card

Parmesan Pasta with Pheasant Meatballs

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Prep Time: 10 min - Cook Time: 30 min



Ingredients



Pheasant Meatballs


1 lbs Ground Pheasant meat
1/2 lbs Ground Pork
1/2 cup(s) Plain Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup(s) Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/4 cup(s) Dry White Wine
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Ground White Pepper
1/2 tsp Ground Fennel Seeds
1 Bunch Fresh Parsley, Chopped
1 tsp Kosher Salt
Italian Seasoning

Pasta


16 oz Whole Wheat Spaghetti Pasta
3 Small Shallots, Diced
8 clove(s) Garlic, chopped
1 cup(s) Parmesan Cheese, grated
3/4 cup(s) Dry White Wine
8 tbsp Butter, unsalted
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Bunch Fresh Parsley, Chopped
1 Lemon, juiced
Red Pepper Flakes


Instructions



Pheasant Meatballs


Step #1 - Preheeat Oven to 425 degrees. Chop Parsley and shred Parmesan Cheese
Step #2 - Lightly ground fennel seeds in mortar
Step #3 - Add meat to a mixing bowl, then add breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, white pepper, ground fennel and Salt.
Step #4 - Pour in White Wine and one egg
Step #5 - Mix with hands to combine. If it's still wet, mix in some more breadcrumbs.
Step #6 - Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out mixture and form into equal size balls using some type of spoon or scoop ensure uniformity.
Step #7 - Place meatballs on parchment paper.
Step #8 - Sprinkle a little Italian seasoning over the top of the meatballs
Step #9 - Place in oven 10-15 minutes. Internal temperature should be 160-165.

Parmesan Pasta


Step #1 - Boil a large pot of water. When boiling add generous amount of salt, 2 heaping palmfuls.
Step #2 - While your water is coming to a boiling, chop Parsley and the dice Shallots and Garlic, then grate Parmesan cheese.
Step #3 - Add Pasta to boiling water and cook 8 - 10 minutes or per the instructions of the pasta you use. Meanwhile, in large skillet at 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil, allow to warm on medium high heat.
Step #4 - Added Shallots and cook for 3-4 minutes
Step #5 - Added garlic cook for 1 minute
Step #6 - Added 6 more tsp of Butter and the White Wine. Let simmer a minute.
Step #7 - Your pasta should be just about done. Using thongs, remove cooked pasta straight to skillet with sauce. Then mix to coat pasta with sauce.
Step #8 - Latte 1 cup of boiling Pasta water into skillet.
Step #9 - Slowly add Parmesan Cheese, a little bit at a time, whisking the whole time. Add it all at once might cause it to clump together.
Step #10 - Sprinkle with chopped parsley and red pepper flakes, then squeeze the juice from one lemon into dish.
Step #11 - Serve in pasta bowl with fresh cut lemon to squeeze over dish and more Parmesan Cheese.


About the Author

Jeff Davis
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You may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.