Wood pigeon with lentils cabbage and roast vegetables

INGREDIENTS

(serves eight)

8 pigeons
Fresh thyme
250g mirepoix (chopped onion carrot celery)
1tbs oil
750ml red wine
250ml port
200g unsalted butter
20g diced truffle
2 cloves garlic
100ml olive oil
250g green lentils
1 large Savoy cabbage
60g butter
60g diced shallots
100g diced streaky bacon
2tbs chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
500g large chopped carrots
500g chopped parsnips

METHOD

Bone the pigeons. Put the legs carcasses thyme mirepoix and oil in a hot oven and brown. Deglaze with red wine transfer to a saucepan and simmer until the meat is tender.

Cool and take the meat off the bones. Reserve the meat. Strain the cooking liquor save half for cooking the lentils and reduce the rest by two-thirds for the sauce. Finish it with 100ml of port unsalted butter and truffle. Check seasoning.

Marinate the pigeon breasts in remaining port thyme garlic and olive oil. Simmer the lentils in the reserved pigeon stock until tender.

Remove the outer leaves from the Savoy cabbage and shred the inside leaves. Blanch the outside leaves and refresh.

Cook the inner leaves slowly in butter with the shallots shredded streaky bacon and chopped parsley until well cooked. Add the meat from the pigeon legs and season well. Wrap the cabbage mixture in an outer leaf and shape into a neat parcel.

Sear the pigeon breasts in a hot pan and finish for five minutes in the oven. Serve with the lentils cabbage and some roast carrots and parsnips.