Pigeon with chicken cannelloni, creamed cabbage and beetroot purée

Ingredients (serves four)

4 squab pigeons
Salt and pepper
30g duck or goose fat
100g matignon
4 sprigs thyme or rosemary
Butter or oil

For the cannelloni 4 Savoy cabbage leaves
120g chicken mousseline
5g sage
4 confit of the pigeon leg (see advance preparation details below), roughly chopped
5g truffle, chopped

For the beetroot purée 50g beetroot purée (baked in skins, peeled and puréed)
70g potato purée
1tsp white truffle oil

For the won tons 1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 shallot, chopped
3g lemon thyme leaves, chopped
10ml duck fat
8 won ton skins
4 rillettes of the legs (see advance preparation details below)
20g pigeon jus

For the creamed cabbage 3 shallots, brunoise
1 rasher of smoked Wiltshire cure bacon, diced
10g butter
200g Savoy cabbage, blanched and shredded
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2g thyme, chopped
200ml heavy cream
Salt and pepper

For the garnish 4 small slices of foie gras
4 pancetta wafers
8 beetroot crisps
Squab jus
White truffle oil

Method

Advance preparation: remove the pigeon legs, then salt and stew in duck or goose fat until tender. Flake the meat from half and bind with a little fat to make the rillettes. Leave to set. Reserve the remaining legs as confit.

Sear the crowns of pigeon and season. Place matignon and herbs in a pan and lay the crowns on top. Cover and pot-roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes.

To make the cannelloni, blanch and refresh the cabbage leaves. Trim and stuff with remaining ingredients. Roll in clingfilm and poach.

To make the beetroot purée, mix together the beetroot and potato. Flavour with truffle oil.

To make the won tons, sweat garlic, shallots and thyme in fat. Add the leg rillettes and jus. Cool. Place a small ball of mixture in won ton and form into triangle. Fry.

For the creamed cabbage, sweat the shallots and bacon in butter, add cabbage, garlic and thyme. Pour over the cream and reduce until the cream adheres lightly to the cabbage. Check seasoning.

Garnish: pan-fry foie gras. Bake pancetta wafers.

To assemble, carve the pigeon breast meat and arrange with cabbage, won tons, cannelloni, pancetta, beetroot crisps, purée, a little jus and white truffle oil.

Photo © Sam Bailey