Roasted Canada Goose Breasts with Creamy Brown Butter Sage Bacon Mushroom Fettuccini
Oof, that’s a mouth full. This was an impromptu meal the other night. I was inside baking bread when my husband came running into the house, grabbed the shotgun, and stormed back out the door. Allllrighty then. About 30 seconds later I hear BANG… BANG BANG. So I wandered outside to see what he’s shooting at this time. I walked down our dock and out to the pond and, to my delight, saw hubby holding up dinner by its wings. Looks like we’re having goose tonight!
I had never cooked goose before, but upon a quick Google-search, discovered that the meat is best served medium-rare. Also, did you know that goose is red meat, more similar to steak than chicken?
So, I dug through the fridge and pantry to see what I could come up with to go with this goose. I found a few strips of bacon left over from a couple days prior, a small package of mushrooms that needed to get used up, and a handful of other ingredients that looked like they’d go. I got my wheels turning and came up with a creamy brown butter based pasta, filled with mushrooms, bacon, hazelnuts, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and sage. And guess what… it’s the furthest thing from low-cal, but it turned out DELISH!
Ingredients
For the goose:
2 Canada goose breasts
Dried rosemary
Onion salt
Garlic powder
Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Olive oil
For the pasta:
16 oz baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
5 strips of thick cut bacon, sliced into pieces
10 tablespoons butter
10 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
15 hazelnuts, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
32 oz heavy cream (or half n half)
1 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
16 oz package fettuccini pasta
Dash of milk
Additional 4 tablespoons butter
Sprig of rosemary for garnish
Instructions
For the goose:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Do your best to remove any silver skin (and shotgun BB’s… lol) from the goose breasts. Season with garlic powder, onion salt, and dried rosemary. Amount is to your preference. Then liberally season with salt and pepper.
Side note: I also cooked the goose legs, but they ended up being tough and without much meat, so I do not recommend.
Pour some olive oil in a pan and get it hot. Sear goose breasts over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes per side.
Immediately transfer goose to a foil or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees, or until internal temperature reaches 135-140 degrees.
Remove goose from oven, cover with foil along with all of the juices, and let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing into beautiful 1/2” thick pieces.
For the pasta:
Fry up your bacon pieces, and then set aside.
Slice your baby portabella mushrooms.
Give your sage leaves and hazelnuts a rough chop.
Sautee mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of butter for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Then remove from skillet and set aside.
Add remaining butter to skillet and melt it over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted and bubbly, add in the minced garlic and allow butter to slightly brown—about 2 minutes.
Add the chopped hazelnuts and sage into the butter mixture and allow butter to brown for another minute or so.
Turn heat down to medium-low and gradually add in the heavy cream, stirring constantly as you pour.
Allow the sauce to simmer and thicken.
Add in the cooked mushrooms, bacon, and parmesan cheese, and sun dried tomatoes, then turn off the heat.
Stir in the cooked fettuccini noodles. Season with onion powder, garlic powder, dried rosemary, salt and pepper.
To make the pasta extra creamy, I added another 4 tablespoons of butter and let it melt over top. If your pasta gets too thick, add a dash of milk.
Serve slices of goose breast over the pasta, and garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese (or asiago!) and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
From sky to plate, within about an hour. It does not get much fresher than that!
