Recipes · British · Pies

Pigeon Pie with Beetroot

One serving has 795 kcal and 35 g protein, and at least a fifth of a woman's daily need of niacin (90%), copper (82%), selenium (79%), zinc (75%), cobalamin (73%) and phosphorus (67%). Ready in 165 minutes.

• Preparation: 60 min
• Cooking: 105 min
• Makes: 1 serving (495 g)
• Difficulty: Medium
• Diets: High protein
• Contains: beef, celery, dairy, egg, gluten, pork, poultry

Ingredients

• 90 g Pigeon breasts (wood pigeon or squab)
• 40 g Braising steak (beef chuck)
• 6 g Plain flour
• 0.4 g Salt
• 0.2 g Black pepper
• 4 g Vegetable oil
• 15 g Smoked streaky bacon, chopped
• 40 g Onion, chopped
• 50 g Mushrooms, quartered
• 100 g Beef or game stock
• 0.3 g Dried thyme
• 40 g Puff pastry
• 6 g Egg, beaten, to glaze
• 100 g Beetroot
• 3 g Olive oil

Method

1. Makes 4 servings in a 1.2 litre pie dish, each with roast beetroot; the amounts are for one serving, so multiply every ingredient by 4. Cut the pigeon breasts and the steak into 2-3 cm pieces and toss them with the flour, half the salt and the pepper.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy casserole and fry the bacon over a medium heat for 3 minutes until its fat runs. Add the pigeon and steak in batches and brown them all over, about 4 minutes a batch, then lift them out.
3. Fry the onion and mushrooms in the same pan for 6-8 minutes until soft and golden, return the meat, pour in the stock, add the thyme and stir up the browned bits from the bottom. Cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour until the meat is tender and the gravy has thickened, then tip it into the pie dish and leave it to cool for at least 30 minutes.
4. Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Peel the beetroot, cut it into wedges, toss with the olive oil and the rest of the salt in a small roasting tin and put it in the oven for 45 minutes, turning once, until tender and caramelised at the edges.
5. Roll out the pastry a little larger than the dish, dampen the rim, lay the pastry on top and press it down to seal; trim, cut a steam hole in the middle and brush with beaten egg.
6. Once the beetroot has had 15 minutes, put the pie in the oven too and bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and the filling bubbles. Serve each portion with the roast beetroot.

Nutrition per serving

Shares of a day's need are for a woman of 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active, by the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes. SustainBite works out each person's own needs, by the standard where they live: the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations in Norway, the UK's, EFSA's in the EU.

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