Roast Squab Pigeon with Beetroot, Blackberry and Red Wine

⏱ 75 min · Serves 2

Rosy-pink pigeon breast, sweet roasted beetroot and a glossy blackberry-red wine sauce — a properly restaurant-plated dish that tastes of late summer hedgerows. Rich, earthy and dramatic on the plate.

Per serving: 710 kcal · 49.0g protein · 31.0g carbs · 40.0g fat

Ingredients

• 2 whole oven-ready squab pigeons (about 350g each), legs removed and breasts left on the crown
• 4 small beetroot (about 350g), scrubbed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 25g unsalted butter, plus 20g for the sauce
• 1 garlic clove, bruised
• 150g blackberries
• 200ml red wine (Pinot Noir or Merlot)
• 300ml good chicken or game stock
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 handfuls watercress, to serve
• Flaky sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Toss the beetroot with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and the thyme, wrap loosely in foil and roast for 45–55 minutes until tender to a skewer. Cool slightly, peel and cut into wedges.
2. Meanwhile make the sauce. Sweat the shallot in a little butter until soft, add the vinegar and sugar and bubble to a syrup. Add the wine and reduce by two-thirds, then the stock and reduce until it lightly coats a spoon, about 15 minutes.
3. Add half the blackberries and the honey, simmer 3 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve, pressing the fruit. Set aside.
4. Season the pigeon crowns generously. Heat the remaining oil in an ovenproof frying pan and brown the crowns all over, 3–4 minutes, adding 25g butter and the garlic and basting well.
5. Sit the crowns breast-up and roast for 8–9 minutes for blushing pink. Rest, breast-down, in a warm place for 8 minutes — this is essential.
6. Season the pigeon legs and pan-fry in the same pan over a medium heat for 6–7 minutes until crisp and cooked through.
7. Reheat the beetroot in a pan with a knob of butter. Reheat the sauce, whisk in the remaining 20g cold butter off the heat, then drop in the remaining blackberries just to warm.
8. Carve the breasts from the crowns. Plate the beetroot, add two breasts and a leg per person, spoon over the sauce and blackberries, and finish with watercress and flaky salt.