Poultry Recipes - Roasted Wood Pigeons

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp chili oil

• 4 slices fatty bacon

• 4 young wood pigeons, oven-ready

• 12 vine leaves

• 2/3 cup (125g) seedless raisins

• 8 mint leaves

• 10 pearl onions, boiled for 5 minutes and drained

• 2 cups (225g) button mushrooms

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley or coriander 

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Method:

1. Preheat the oven to moderate 180C (Gas Mark 4,350F).

2. Heat the oil in a frying-pan. When it is hot, add the bacon and fry until it is crisp. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

3. Put the pigeons on a flat surface. Lay one bacon slice over the breast of each one and cover each pigeon with three vine leaves, so that they overlap or enclose the pigeons. Secure with cocktail sticks or trussing thread.

4. Arrange the pigeons in a casserole large enough to hold them in one layer. Add the sultanas (seedless raisins), mint leaves, onions and mushrooms, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and put into the oven. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pigeons are cooked through and tender.

5. Remove the casserole from the oven, remove the sticks or trussing thread and sprinkle over the parsley or coriander. Serve at once.