When you hear the dish Buckwheat Fettuccine with Pheasant Sauce, it immediately conjures up images of an elegant, top-rated restaurant. Perhaps it may even be served under a dome or glass. Well, how about truck-stop food?
Several years ago, my spouse won a space in an artists’ colony in Tuscany. Our hosts took us to a roadside restaurant near the town of Gambassi-Terme. In the parking lot were at least ten large trucks. We entered the plain, but comfortable, dining room, and noted that the truckers, seated at various tables, were seriously engaged in their lunch, with only some occasional banter.
When the waiter brought the menus, I anticipated the simplest fare. My eye immediately caught one pasta entry—Fettuccine pizzoccheri con salsa fagiano—which I knew to be buckwheat pasta with pheasant. This seemed the most unlikely place to encounter such a dish. But there it was, and I had to have it. The pasta and the sauce were extremely refined and delicious.
I instantly decided I would have to try to recreate the dish at home. Now I have no clue as to what that restaurant’s recipe contained, so I simply had to improvise. I checked all of my cookbooks, and every recipe I found for a pheasant sauce contained either tomatoes or tomato paste. The truck stop’s dish had no trace of tomato. I was on my own. If memory serves, the dish I created has a strong resemblance to what I ate at the truck stop. On other visits to that establishment during the artist residency, I had the most delicious Florentine steak I had ever eaten. In my head, I tried comparing this establishment with the typical American truck stop. But no, they were simply not in the same league.
I suggest that if you try this recipe you get your butcher to cut the bird into 6 pieces for you. To do it yourself at home you need to be equipped with a sturdy set of poultry shears and a heavy cleaver.
Begin by soaking 1 cup of dried porcini mushrooms in 2 cups of hot water for about a 1/2 hour.
Soaking dried porcini.
Drain them reserving the liquid. Coarsely chop the porcini and strain the liquid through a coffee filter or a damp paper towel to remove any sand or grit.
Draining the porcini
Dry the pheasant pieces on a paper towel and brown in olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven or casserole for about 10 minutes, turning frequently, until golden. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the pheasant pieces.
Browning the pheasant.
In the same oil, lightly brown some finely chopped pancetta or bacon.
Chopped pancetta.
.
Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Removing cooked pancetta.
Sauté sliced fresh mushrooms in the oil. Remove and set aside.
Sautéed fresh mushrooms.
Lightly sauté the porcini. Remove and set aside.
Browning the porcini.
By now you will have noticed that all the ingredients are cooked in the same oil, so as not to lose any of the earthy flavors. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the casserole. Sauté chopped onion until golden, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add a quartered carrot and lightly brown.
Stir 1/4 cup of flour into the onions, until fully incorporated and beginning to brown.
Adding flour to onions.
Add cognac or brandy and white wine, and cook until nearly evaporated. Add half of the porcini liquid, plus 3 cups of chicken stock.
Make an her bouquet from bay leaves, parsley, thyme and rosemary sprigs, and 2 whole cloves, either wrapped in cheesecloth, or with the herbs tied together with kitchen string and cloves added to the broth.
Adding liquids and herb bouquet.
Add the porcini, the pancetta, and the pheasant pieces and cook in the liquid partially covered about about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until very tender.
Remove the pheasant from the casserole and allow to cool until you can easily handle it. Also, remove the herb bouquet, the carrot pieces, and the cloves if you added them to sauce.
Place the casserole in the refrigerator to allow the fat to rise to the surface, then degrease it by skimming strips of paper towel over it until most of the fat is removed.
Strip the pheasant meat from the bones and coarsely shred it. Discard the skin. Be extra careful to remove the many small bones, particularly in the legs.
Shredded pheasant.
Return the shredded pheasant meat and the fresh mushrooms to the sauce, and simmer until well blended. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with some of the leftover poricini liquid or more chicken stock.
Combining ingredients.
I love this dish served over the buckwheat fettuccine, but the last time I made it my fresh pasta store was unable to get buckwheat flour because of the pandemic. In a pinch I substituted what I had on hand—spaghetti alla chitarra. You can successfully use any fresh or dried pasta for this dish.
When you cook the pasta, save a little of the pasta water in case you need it to moisten the sauce. Return the pasta to the pot and add half the pheasant sauce. Remove from the heat and add Parmigiano. Here’s where you can add the reserved pasta water if you find the dish is to dry. Serve on a large platter or individual plates. Spoon the remaining sauce over the pasta, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve with extra Parmigiano.
Any leftover sauce reheats beautifully.
To print or download the recipe, click here.
