Pigeon And Summer Vegetable Casserole
Posted: February 6, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 8 boneless wood pigeon breasts
- 50g pancetta, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 80g girolles, cleaned and prepped
- Splash red wine vinegar
- 50ml chicken stock
- 100g baby leeks, roughly chopped
- 100g fresh asparagus,
- 100g baby carrots
- 100g beetroot, peeled chopped and blanched
- 100g broad beans, shelled
- 1 tbsp chopped tarragon
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the fleurons:
- Approx 250g chilled puff pastry
- Flour for dusting
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
- Fresh thyme and rock salt to season
Method: How to make pigeon and summer vegetable casserole
1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
2. To make the fleurons, roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface and cut four 6 ½ cm discs using a plate or a pastry cutter. Cut away one side of each disc to make a crescent moon shape. Place the pastry crescents on a greased baking sheet and chill for approximately 20 minutes. Then brush with beaten egg and season with a sprinkling of rock salt and thyme. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until puffed up and golden. Remove and keep warm.
3. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a heavy based frying pan. Season the pigeon breasts and cook, skin side down, for about 3 minutes. Flip the breasts over and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes. They should feel lightly springy when pressed. Remove from the pan and leave to rest.
4. Trim the asparagus, carrots and leeks. Chop each asparagus spear and baby leek into three pieces, then blanch with the carrots in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Strain and set aside.
5. Add a little fresh olive oil to the pigeon pan. Sauté off the pancetta with the garlic and girolles for a minute or two then add the blanched vegetables. Deglaze with the red wine vinegar. Add the chicken stock and allow to simmer. Finish with broad beans and a spoonful of chopped tarragon, mix thoroughly.
6. Dish the vegetables into warm serving bowls. Slice the pigeon breasts in half and arrange four pieces over each bowl of vegetables, drizzle with olive oil and sit a fleuron on top, serve immediately.