Sunday Style Roast Pigeon

Buon’Domenica!
It means Happy Sunday and in Umbria, you start wishing people a Buon’Domenica on Saturday when you go grocery shopping. There are only two of us in the house, at the moment, so a roast pigeon will do fine.

Buon'Domenica!
It means Happy Sunday and in Umbria,  you start wishing people a Buon'Domenica on Saturday when you go grocery shopping.  The lady at the cheese counter, the meat guy, they all assume you are buying food to feed an entire Italian family, because that’s what Sundays are for.
There are only two of us in the house, at the moment, so a roast pigeon will do fine. The classic Umbrian way to serve a roast bird is on a thick piece of salt-less Umbrian bread, where it soaks up the salty, juicy, run-off from the bird.  Me? I like white beans. Especially when it’s fall-chilly outside.

Roast Pigeon, Sunday Style
1 pigeon per person
Lots of fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme, fennel weed (yeah, I’m still heavily into fennel weed), sage and juniper berries.
Salt, Olive Oil

Wash the bird, inside and out in cool, running water.  If you buy little birdies in Italy, you usually have do the decapitation and de-foot-itation as well, but I’ll spare you those photos.
Stuff the cavity with the fresh herbs. Heavily salt the skin of the pigeon to make a crackling crust. The crispy crust also keeps moisture in, and when you are roasting game birds, this is critical.
Roast at 350F/180C for about 35 minutes.
Serve, with all the pan juices on either a chunk of toasted bread or on a pile of yummy white beans, and maybe a side dish of roasted, savory prunes.
Buon’Domenica!