Roast Pigeon Breast with Beetroot, Blackberry and Cocoa Jus

⏱ 75 min · Serves 2

Rosy pigeon breasts, rested to blushing pink, sit on glossy roast beetroot with a dark, glossy jus perfumed with blackberry and a whisper of bitter cocoa. It tastes like autumn woodland on a plate — deeply savoury, faintly sweet, and genuinely restaurant-worthy.

Per serving: 540 kcal · 38.0g protein · 26.0g carbs · 30.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 pigeon breasts, skin on, at room temperature
• 2 medium beetroot (about 300g), scrubbed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 30g unsalted butter, plus 15g for the jus
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 garlic clove, lightly crushed
• 150g blackberries
• 250ml good chicken or game stock
• 100ml red wine (something robust)
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 100g baby spinach or watercress, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan. Wrap the beetroot in foil with a splash of water, a little oil and salt, and roast for 45-50 minutes until a knife slides in easily. Cool slightly, peel and cut into wedges.
2. Meanwhile make the jus. Melt 15g butter in a small pan and sweat the shallot for 3 minutes without colouring. Add the red wine and vinegar and reduce by two thirds.
3. Add the stock, half the blackberries and the sugar. Simmer for 12-15 minutes until reduced to a light sauce that coats a spoon. Press through a fine sieve, pushing hard on the fruit, and return to the pan.
4. Whisk in the cocoa powder off the heat, then taste and season. Keep warm; do not boil again or it will turn bitter.
5. Pat the pigeon breasts very dry and season the skin well. Heat a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Lay the breasts in skin-side down and cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes until deeply golden.
6. Turn, add 30g butter, thyme and garlic, and baste for 1-2 minutes. The breasts should feel springy, like the base of your thumb. Lift onto a warm plate and rest for 5 minutes, skin-side up.
7. Tip the beetroot wedges into the pigeon pan and toss in the buttery juices for a minute to glaze. Wilt the spinach briefly in the same pan.
8. Slice each breast in half lengthways or leave whole. Arrange beetroot and greens on warm plates, top with pigeon, scatter the remaining fresh blackberries and spoon the jus around. Finish with flaky salt.