Though the majority of Wild Game is only available from October through to the end of January, Wood Pigeon is accessible throughout the year and feeds our appetite for sustainable and locally sourced meat.
Pigeon has a low fat content and is typically very tender and lean with a delicate flavour. The pork belly mince really helps to add just the right amount of fat to the pigeon burgers and the black pudding adds incredible depth and richness.
The chutney you use on top of your pigeon burger is entirely up to you, but make sure it really packs a punch, you need lots of sweetness and acidity to cut through the fat of the burgers. We used our own homemade courgette chutney from last year’s glut, but piccalilli would be a pretty formidable choice too.
If you’re interested in learning more about pigeon as a sustainable source of meat, our Spotlight On Pigeon blog post has lots of info you may find useful.
This recipe was originally created in partnership with Big Green Egg. We are proud to be a Big Green Egg Affiliate Reseller, which means we sell EGGs! We cook over a myriad of fire cookery equipment and can’t recommend Big Green Egg highly enough. You’ll find a selection of EGGs in our woodland kitchen, which feature at our Feasts and Cookery Courses. Looking to purchase an EGG? You can find out more here.
280g minced pigeon breasts
160g minced pork belly
160g black pudding, cut into a small dice
8g Salt Box Pastrami seasoning
20g French’s Mustard
20g rapeseed oil
75g chutney
Burger buns (give our Nettle Seed Burger Buns a try!)
Celeriac and wild garlic seed caper remoulade, to serve
Place the minced pigeon breasts, minced pork belly and diced black pudding into a large bowl and mix together with your hands until well combined.
Divide the pigeon burger mix into 4 and form into patties. Brush the top of each patty with french’s mustard and scatter over half of the Pastrami seasoning.
If you’re using a Big Green Egg, fill your Big Green Egg up to the base of the fire ring with charcoal. Light the charcoal using two to four wood wool firelighters depending on which size your Big Green Egg is. Open up all of the vents and keep the lid open for the first 15 minutes after you have lit the firelighters.
If your grill is particularly dirty from the last cook then run the Egg at a high temperature with the lid shut and grill in, this will carbonise everything and clean away any debris from your last cook. Once the charcoal has caught, shut the lid and close the vents to around a two finger gap whilst the temperature settles to around 180-200℃.
If you’re using an open fire, use a griddle pan or cook over a grill, over a medium-high heat.
If you’re preparing these in an oven, use a griddle pan over a medium-high heat.
Cook the pigeon and black pudding burgers, seasoned side down, on a hot grill that has been brushed with a little rapeseed oil.
Cook for 3-4 minutes, before flipping the pigeon burgers, brush the top with the remaining mustard and scatter with the last of the Pastrami.
Cook to a core temperature of 71℃, using a temperature probe such as a Thermapen to keep an eye on your temperatures.
Split and toast your nettle seed buns and tuck the pigeon and black pudding burgers inside, along with a spoon full of celeriac and wild garlic remoulade and a good dollop of your favourite chutney.
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This recipe was originally created in partnership with Big Green Egg.
We are proud to be a Big Green Egg Affiliate Reseller, which means we sell EGGs! We cook over a myriad of fire cookery equipment and can’t recommend Big Green Egg highly enough. You’ll find a selection of EGGs in our woodland kitchen, which feature at our Feasts and Cookery Courses. Looking to purchase an EGG? You can find out more here.
Disclosure: We only recommend products we have extensively tried and tested and all opinions expressed here are our own. This page may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission.
