wild pigeon, courgette ribbons & sage butter

I know that pigeon may not be a ‘go to’ bird for most, however, the meat has a wonderful, light gamey flavour that doesn’t quite compare to anything else. It is incredibly lean, so is best when lightly roasted then finished in butter. Wild pigeon is a true delight, and one that I would urge everyone to try if you can get your hands on it.

Here, I have paired it with super thin courgette ribbons, a lovely sage butter and some pine. nuts. It was a bit of a hodgepodge meal, just throwing the ingredients that I had to hand and needed to use up, but the worked so well together that I wanted to share the recipe. I will definitely be coming back to it again and again, it was that good!

 

for the pigeon

1 whole wild wood pigeon

a touch of salt & pepper

for the courgette

1 courgette

a squeeze of lemon

a small handful of pine nuts

olive oil

salt & pepper

for the sage butter

5 sage leaves

25g good quality salted butter

method

  1. Start by preheating your oven to 200c.

  2. Place the pigeon in a small roasting tray and season with a little salt & pepper.

  3. Roast for 8-10 minutes until the outside is nice and brown.

  4. Remove from the oven and use a sharp knife to take the breasts off the bone. Put these to one side and save the carcass for stock.

  5. Next, use a potato peeler to make your courgette ribbons. Peel down the whole length of the courgette to make your first ribbon, then peel the exact same spot over and over again until you get through to the other side.

  6. Season the ribbons with a little salt & pepper, a squeeze of lemon and a splash of good quality olive oil.

  7. Next, melt the butter over a high heat and add the sage leaves. As the butter begins to brown, add the pigeon breasts and spoon the butter over the top.

  8. Once the pigeon is cooked all around the outside, but still soft in the middle, remove the breasts from the butter and let rest on a chopping board.

  9. Add the pine nuts to the courgette ribbons and toss it all together.

  10. Once the pigeon has rested for 5 minutes, slice the breasts ready to serve.

  11. Lay the courgette ribbon in the centre of the plate, then place the pigeon breast slices on top. Spoon on some of your sage butter, as well as the crispy leaves, then finish with a small pinch of sea salt.