Pigeon breast with beetroot crème fraîche
This glorious pigeon breast recipe by Marcello Tully is an impressive meal to prepare. Gamey pigeon works perfectly with earthy beetroot, sweet roasted butternut squash and a zingy citrus sauce. Crème fraîche rounds off this deliciously seasonal pigeon recipe nicely
Ingredients
Pigeon breast recipe
- 4 pigeon breasts
- sunflower oil
- 4 slices of black pudding
- 100g of butternut squash , medium dice
Beetroot and crème fraîche
- 4 raw beetroots
- 4 tbsp of crème fraîche
- 1 dash of Tabasco
- 1 garlic clove
- caster sugar
Citrus sauce
- 3 celery sticks
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp of sunflower oil
- 100g of plain flour
- 100g of tomato purée
- 1000ml of beef stock
- 200g of redcurrant jelly
- 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 drop of Tabasco
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon , juiced
- 25g of caster sugar
- salt
- pepper
To plate
- 1 handful of cherries
Equipment
- 2.5cm stainless steel rings
Method
1
To create this fabulous pigeon breast recipe the first thing you need to do is cook the beetroot. Start by preheating the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Wrap the beetroot in foil and bake for approximately 2 hours or until fully cooked, then set aside until cool enough to handle
2
To make the citrus sauce, roughly chop the celery, carrot and onion. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan then brown the vegetables, stirring occasionally. Stir in the flour and tomato purée and cook for 2–3 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock, stirring well as you do. Bring to a simmer for 1 hour
- 3 celery sticks
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp of sunflower oil
- 100g of plain flour
- 100g of tomato purée
- 1000ml of beef stock
3
Pass the sauce through a sieve into a clean saucepan. Add the redcurrant jelly, a splash of Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces, plus the lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 4–5 minutes while you pare the zest from the orange, cut it into fine julienne and add to the sauce
4
Melt the sugar in a stainless steel pan until it dissolves and turns a caramel colour. Stir this into the sauce and set aside
- 25g of caster sugar
5
Peel the beetroot, chop it in quarters, then place in a food processor and blend into a rough paste. Crush the garlic and add to the processor with the crème fraîche, plus Tabasco, caster sugar and salt to taste. Mix well
- 4 tbsp of crème fraîche
- 1 dash of Tabasco
- 1 garlic clove
- caster sugar
6
Peel the black pudding. Take a 2.5cm stainless steel ring and press the raw black pudding down into it to create a cylinder, if necessary. Repeat to give four portions, put them on a baking tray and bake at 180°c/Gas mark 4 for 3–4 minutes
- 4 slices of black pudding
7
Peel the skin from the slices of butternut squash, then cut them into 1cm cubes. Gently simmer them in salted boiling water for 2 minutes then drain and keep warm
- 4g of butternut squash
8
To cook the pigeon breast, start by seasoning with salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a heavy-based frying pan until it starts to smoke. Add the pigeon breasts and fry for 2 minutes on each side, then set aside to rest in a warm place for 5 minutes
- 4 pigeon breasts
- sunflower oil
- salt
- pepper
9
Spoon the sauce over the serving plates. Using two dessertspoons, form a quenelle of the beetroot mixture and gently place in the centre of each plate. Slice the pigeon breast and arrange around the quenelles. Put a black pudding cylinder near each quenelle, and garnish the dish with the butternut squash and cherries
- 1 handful of cherries
Discover more:
Go to Comments
Pigeon breast with beetroot crème fraîche
