River Café roast pigeon recipe
The meat of young reared pigeons, known as piccioni, is both tender and full of flavour, unlike the wild wood pigeons, now almost disappeared, whose flesh is dark in colour with a flavour both gamey and like liver. Piccioni are usually sold alongside guinea fowl and rabbit. If you do come across wild pigeon, choose only young birds if you wish to make them part of an arrosto misto. In Italian palomba is the name for wild pigeon.
Ingredients
- 4 Pigeons
- 4 Garlic cloves, peeled, plus one whole bulb, cut across in half
- 5 Bunches of fresh thyme
- 5 Bunches of fresh thyme
- 200 g Butter
- 1 Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- 200 ml Chianti Classico
- 1 Pinch of sea salt
- 1 Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 5 mins
- Cooking Time: 50 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 220°C. Season the cavity of each pigeon and push a garlic clove, a sprig of thyme and a knob of butter inside each one.
- Place the pigeons close together, breast side up, in a roasting pan with high sides. Dot the remaining butter over and scatter with the rest of the thyme. Drizzle with olive oil and pour in 100ml of Chianti.
- Cover loosely with foil and roast for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C.
- Remove the roasting pan from the oven and discard the foil. Turn the birds over and add the rest of the Chianti, then roast for a further 30 minutes, uncovered. The birds will be cooked through, which is the Tuscan way, and should rest in their juices in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.
Taken from The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook
Published by Penguin