pigeon breasts with bacon and white wine dressing

had pigeon for dinner again. i know, i know - it’s getting boring, and most people can’t buy pigeon breasts every week. in my defence, i will say that this would work very well with chicken breasts. 

it’s a salad, of sorts – though not what most people would understand by the word. it all gets done in about half an hour and the result is so good that we both made contented noises while eating it. what i particularly liked about it is the salty bacon and the slightly bitter chicory, with the sweet caramelised bits of roast veg and the sharp dressing. you can, of course, use other veg but aim for a similar kind of contrast.

i used some leftover shallots from yesterday, and roasted some broccoli, cauliflower and 3 tiny purple chicories i found on sale in a supermarket. all you do, once you’ve put the veg to roast in the oven with some olive oil and seasoning, is fry a few rashers of streaky bacon until golden and crisp, take it out and then in the leftover bacon fat fry the pigeon breasts for a couple of minutes each side. take them out of the pan and leave to rest. deglaze the pan with a couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar and the same amount of white wine (i used marsala as i didn’t have any wine). leave it to bubble down – if it reduces too much, add some water. assemble the salad with all the veg, the pigeon, the bacon and some salad leaves and pour over the dressing.