Pigeon breasts on a leek risotto
Created | Updated Mar 7, 2011
Pigeon can be a tricky bird to cook and eat, it's easy to overcook it and dry it out and there are lots of small bones, but this recipe, using only the breasts, is good as a lunch for two people or a starter for four.
Some game dealers will supply just the breasts but if you have whole birds the breasts are easy to remove without the need for plucking by simply slitting the skin down the breast bone and pulling them off the carcass.
Ingredients:
For the risotto:
- 1 leek
- 1/2 cup risotto rice
- 10 grams butter or 10ml oil
- 15ml Noilly Prat or medium dry white wine
- 400ml light chicken stock kept hot
For the pigeon:
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 pigeon breasts
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 10 grams butter or 10ml oil
- Balsamic vinegar (cheaper varieties are fine for this dish)
Method:
- Thinly slice the leek across the grain and rinse thoroughly in fresh water to remove any traces of dirt and to separate the rings.
- On a low heat melt the butter/heat the oil in a saucepan and stir in the leeks to coat them with oil. If the leeks are old and a bit tough put the lid on and steam for a minute or so.
- Add the rice and stir until coated with butter/oil.
- Turn up the heat and add the Noilly Prat/wine and boil off the alcohol.
- Reduce the heat to very low and add a ladleful of stock. Stir gently with a non-metal spoon until the liquor is absorbed. Repeat until the rice is almost cooked. Leave a tablespoon or two of stock for the sauce. The rice should be creamy but still with a resistance to the teeth.
- Melt the second lot of butter in a small frying pan and quickly fry the thyme sprigs for a few seconds, remove them from the pan, drain and set aside, they should crisp up, if not fry them for a little bit longer.
- Add the pigeon breasts to the pan and gently fry 'til they are browned. If you prefer your meat rare (best for this recipe) remove them from the pan and keep warm otherwise leave them in the pan.
- Add the shallot and fry 'til lightly browned.
- Dish up the risotto into warmed bowls.
- Remove the pigeon breasts from the pan and thinly slice across the grain, arrange on top of the risotto.
- Deglaze the frying pan with Balsamic vinegar and reduce 'til slightly sticky. Add a little stock, stir, and spoon the sauce over the pigeon slices.
- Garnish with the fried thyme sprigs.
