Pheasant breast à l’orange with dried apricots & prosciutto

• 2 skinless pheasant↗

  breasts

• plump, juicy dried apricots6
• rashers thinly sliced prosciutto↗12

  or streaky bacon

• thyme↗4

  sprigs

• knob of butter
• olive oil↗2 tbsp tbsp
• watercress↗50g g
• squeeze of orange juice
• zest and juice 2 oranges
• 1in cinnamon stick

  (or 1 tsp ground)

• honey↗1 tsp tsp
• soy sauce↗3 tbsp tbsp

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Cut each pheasant in half across the middle, lengthways so that you have 4 thin slithers of breast. Cut the apricots in the same way. Lay out 3 overlapping slices of prosciutto or bacon and place a sprig of thyme on top. Pop a piece of breast on top of this and lay 3 pieces of apricot on top of the breast. Season with salt and pepper, then wrap the prosciutto tightly around the pheasant to form a parcel. Repeat with the remaining pheasant, prosciutto and apricot to make 4 parcels. You can make these the day before and chill overnight.

2. 2

   Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high flame and add the butter and 1 tbsp oil. When the fats are sizzling, add the pheasant parcels and cook for 3-4 mins on each side until the prosciutto is crisp and golden. The heat from the pan will seal the prosciutto tightly around the pheasant breast.

3. 3

   Pop the breasts onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 5-7 mins to finish cooking. Meanwhile, add the zest and juice from the 2 oranges, cinnamon, honey and soy to the pan juices and simmer to reduce until syrupy. Toss the watercress with the remaining oil and a squeeze of orange juice. Serve the pheasant parcels with the orange sauce, watercress and rice.