I thought I had better have a practice at getting back into the blogging groove. It will be another 4 weeks until I am back up and running properly.
This recipe is a treat. The sweetness of the beetroot in the risotto provides a freshness against the pigeon breast's depth of flavour.
The Purple Sprouting Broccoli comes from my own garden - having a north facing veg patch means that we get this in abundance over a longer growing season than we might otherwise experience.
Ingredients
250g risotto rice
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
100g olive oil spread
1 table spoon of brandy
1 large glass of red wine
4 mushrooms
5 cooked baby beetroot
handful of fresh thyme
100g grilled (or BBQ'd!!) rabbit
handful of parsley
1 ltr beef stock
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of Mascarpone cheese
3 Pigeon breasts
Purple Sprouting broccoli
Method
Melt the olive oil spread in a heavy bottomed frying pan.
Soften the onion and garlic then add the risotto rice. Make sure this is well coated then add the brandy and flame off the brandy. Give a good stir to the pan and add the red wine.
Simmer off the wine and then the intensive bit of the job starts. Make your stock (I put the bay leaf in this rather than the main pan) and add a little at a time whilst constantly stirring the rice. Do this until the rice has softened - about 45 minutes or so. You may need more stock - it really requires a bit of judgement on behalf of the maker (or chef if you are better than me at it!).
Part way through add the mushrooms and beetroot, sliced to a medium thickness. Then add the thyme - finely chopped.
We had BBQ'd a rabbit last night and there were the hind legs left so I added a bit of that in (not essential though). Rabbit is great - but a bit bony so if you do put dome into this dish make sure no bones get in there - they are an unwelcome addition to a bite of food!!
Just before serving stir in the parsley (finely chopped) and the mascarpone.
Grill the pigeon breasts for a minute on each side. I seasoned with some good salt and nothing else. Let it rest for 5 mins and slice to serve.
The Purple Sprouting Broccoli only takes a minute or two in a pan with a shallow amount of water.
This is a great dish and really enjoyable "something different" meal.
