Easy Roast Pigeon Recipe

It’s Sunday morning and I’m heading off to the Farmer’s Market in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. This excites me greatly because there is something for all the family and we can all get treats. The wife will get a coffee, kids will get something sweet and I will pick up some fresh game…win win for us all.

Anyway, back to this easy Roast Pigeon recipe. Seeing how the nights are chilly, I couldn’t think of anything better than a nice Roast Pigeon to warm me up. Sunday is typically the day to have a roast dinner and with two fresh woodpigeons sitting in my fridge, it makes sense to treat myself…..and hopefully the wife.

Here’s some I prepared earlier:

I’ll be the first to admit but prior to cooking these, I had no idea or recipes to hand I could rely on. My mum had never cooked them and brother, who is a chef merely advised to use the breasts. Bit late really given these two beauties were waiting to be cooked.

As the vegetables roasted away, the kitchen filled with smell of carrot, turnip and beets, with the sweetness of the cider wafting through. It made me feel happy. The culmination of the sweet roasted vegetables and the meatiness of the woodpigeon really came together for a great Sunday roast. Whilst I enjoyed it, I don’t think my wife did but that’s ok as it means more for me next time.

This recipe is super easy and if you don’t fancy preparing the pigeon yourself, then pick some up from a farmer’s market or your butcher (if they sell them).

Easy Roast Woodpigeon (2 servings)

You will need:

2 Woodpigeon

2-4 roughly chopped carrots

2 large diced fresh beetroot

1 Artichoke (chopped)

1/2 diced swede

Salt/pepper

Unsalted Butter

Fresh Rosemary

Fresh Thyme

1 bottle dry cider

The process

1. Preheat oven to 220°c and chop all your vegetables. Place the veg in an oven dish, drizzle with some oil.
2. Heat up a frying pan and add a massive knob of butter. When the butter starts to bubble, place the pigeon breast side down and spoon the butter over them until golden brown. Once your birds are golden, take them off the heat.
3. Pop your chopped vegetables into the oven and add a big splash of dry cider to the dish (this will give your vegetables a mild sweetness and glaze to them).
4. Stuff your pigeon breasts with sprigs of Rosemary and Thyme. Smother the outside of your Woodpigeon with some oil and season with some salt and pepper.
5. After 20 mins of cooking, take your vegetables out of the oven and given them a mix around. Feel free to add a little more cider, I did. Place your birds on top of the vegetables, breast down and return to the oven.
6. After 10 minutes, turn the birds so they are now breast up and cook for a further 10 minutes.
7. Once everything is cooked, remove from oven and get ready to serve. Place your roasted vegetables in the centre of your plate and place your roasted woodpigeon on top. If there are juices left in the dish, drizzle them over for a bit of extra flavour.

Voila, dinner is served. Hope you enjoy.