Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
30 mins to 1 hour
Serves
Serves 2
By Matt TebbuttFrom Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 4 tomatoes, quartered
- 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 20g/¾oz green beans, trimmed
- 1 aubergine, thickly sliced
- 10 Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 red pepper, seeds removed and quartered
- 1 green pepper, seeds removed and quartered
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 courgettes, cut into chunks
- 150g/5½oz olives pitted
- 8 garlic cloves, left whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
- 1 squab pigeon
- squeeze lemon juice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds
- 400g/14oz couscous
- fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Method
Place the turmeric, coriander, allspice and cumin in a small bowl and splash with a little water to wake them up.
Heat the oil in a large casserole. Add the tomato purée, cinnamon stick and the ground spices and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, beans, aubergine, dates, peppers, onion, courgettes, olives, garlic, bay leaves and then pour in the stock. Simmer, covered, for around 40 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.
Season the pigeon well and sear all over in a frying pan until nicely browned.
Place the bird on top of the simmering vegetables in the casserole and put the lid back on. Steam for around 6–8 minutes or until the pigeon is cooked through. Turn off the heat and leave to rest in the casserole pot for at least 10 minutes. Taste, season with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Meanwhile, toast the flaked almonds in a hot pan until light brown and fragrant. Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packet.
Remove the pigeon from the casserole and slice the breast and leg meat from the bird. Serve the meat with the vegetables and couscous and garnish with the almonds and coriander.