Pichón Relleno

paloma

This is a stuffed pigeon recipe from Castilla y León in Spain. Pigeon, like rabbit is a common farmed animal in Europe – it’s not unusual to see them kept for meat in dovecotes (palomares) en el campo (rural areas), similar to people keeping a few chicken for eggs. In the book Don Quixote, Cervantes opens with a description of his subject including his impoverished weekly diet, with a pigeon on Sundays, which would have been a treat – An olla of rather more beef than mutton, a salad on most nights, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a pigeon or so extra on Sundays, made away with three-quarters of his income.

For those who don’t fancy pigeon, this recipe is ideal for partridge, quail or poussin – perhaps even a medium chicken with a scaled up farce. Pichón means young domestic pigeon or squab (fully grown, but has not left the nest and milk fed – adult pigeons produce a type of milk for their young), while Paloma is more commonly used to mean a fully grown wild pigeon or dove. I used a wood pigeon (as above) and not one of it’s common feral relatives from Trafalgar Square!

pichón

Pichón Relleno (1 pigeon per person):

1 pigeon
2 slices smoked streaky bacon
1/2 glass dry white wine (ideally Spanish)
sea salt and cracked black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Stuffing:

1 slice jamón serrano (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (peeled)
1/2 hard boiled egg (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon capers
1 small slice of stale brown sourdough bread (soaked in milk)
2 sprigs thyme
a pinch pimentón de la Vera dulce
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
sea salt and cracked black pepper

pan y leche

In Spain the most common bread is una barra de pan (AKA una barra de medio) – a baguette. In the heat and humidity, bread bought in the morning is stale by the evening, so like the Italians, the Spanish have lots of delicious ways to use up stale bread. Stuffing game birds is just one of them. I normally buy a large brown sourdough loaf on a weekly basis in the UK and it’s full of flavour, so I’m inclined to use the ends for breadcrumbs, croutons, etc. So soak whatever stale bread you have to hand in a little milk, for 30 minutes before making the stuffing.

mezcla

Chop the egg and put all the solid ingredients into a bowl.

el relleno

Break up the soaked bread and mix everything together.

relleno

Fill the pigeon with the stuffing.

beicon

Rub the bird with a little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper, then wrap the pigeon with bacon – I’d normally use streaky, but I came across some good smoked back this week, so used that instead.

Heat the oven to 180ºC, pour on half a glass of dry white wine and cook for 45 minutes.

patatas con pimentón

As the oven is on, you might as well cook some roast potatoes at the same time, and give them a sprinkle of pimentón de la Vera picante (hot) – they will thank you for it!

pichón relleno

When the pigeon is done, let it rest in loose in foil for 15 minutes.

salsa

Deglaze the oven dish, make a roux and stir in the juices plus a little chicken stock to make a gravy.

Serve with the roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables. I recommend drinking a glass or two of Paloma de Plata Selección Barrica Alicante with your pigeon.

Other Pigeon posts