Squab Pigeons in a Red Wine Sauce

Cut off the legs of the pigeons to cook separately  Picture  . Cut the proscuitto into 1 cm/½ inch strips. Salt and pepper the pigeons all over, and quickly brown all over in a little olive oil along with the proscuitto. Put the pigeons and proscuitto in the oven at 400°F/200°C/Reg6 for twenty minutes  Picture  .

Meanwhile prepare the Potatoes cooked with Rosemary and Garlic  Recipe  , and get the Pak Choi and Chinese Leaves ready to steam.

Take the pigeons out of the cooking dish, and use a sharp knife and some chicken shears to remove the breast and wings in one piece from the carcasse. Leave the proscuitto in the cooking dish.

Discard the carcasses, and wrap the pigeon legs, and breast and wings, in foil and put back in the oven at 300°F/150°C/Reg2. Note that the pigeon breasts may look a little rare, but they will finish off in the foil.

Put the cooking dish over a medium heat, pour over the red wine and reduce for a few minutes. Meanwhile rub the butter and flour together, and mix into the reducing wine in little pieces removing any lumps with a wooden spoon.

Slowly pour in the chicken stock and season the resulting sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile quickly steam the Pak Choi and Chinese Leaves for no longer than five minutes.

Take out the pigeon and compose the two breast and wings into the pigeon 'shape' surrounded by legs. Serve with the potatoes and vegetables and pour over some of the red wine sauce  Picture  .